Part of Your World
by frostdrop1
Summary: Sonic Boom - When Eggman vanished, nobody suspected anything dastardly was going on. However, when a human girl comes into their world, they find themselves with a mission: send her home. The girl wanted to protect the future. Instead, she ended up in a world far from anything she knew. The girl grows attached to her temporary home, soon finding that she doesn't want to leave it.
1. Chapter 1

Eggman grumbled furiously as he stalked around his base, hands folded behind his back. Orbot and Cubot watched as their boss paced out his frustration. Once again, he had been beaten by Sonic and his friends with no hope of winning to begin with. His robots were destroyed, his plan in tatters and his domination plan for next Thursday was heavily relying on a win today.

"Why do I always lose?" He hissed. "My plans are perfect!"  
"If I may say so, Sir," Orbot piped, "You are an impeccable villain! But you do not seem to utilise all of your absolutely evil genius." Orbot nervously leant away as Eggman whipped around.

"What did you say? Didn't you just hear me – my plans are perfect! Too perfect! Too perfect to fail. That means I must be doing everything correctly one hundred percent, you metallic moron!" Eggman folded his arms and straightened as he chuffed. "I've thrown everything at that blue pincushion and he still wins seventy five percent of the time."

"Yeah. It's almost like he has plot armour or something." Cubot chimed in, setting his hands on his non-existent hips.

"Plot armour…" Eggman grumbled, "How stupid can you be?" He twizzled his moustache as he continued to wrack his brain for ideas. He hummed, then plopped down in front of the TV, disheartened. No plan was coming to mind. Perhaps if he just relaxed for a while he would come up with something. He picked up the remote and flicked the screen on, pulling up a movie channel.

As the film played, Eggman zoned out somewhat. Then he frowned. Why was the villain in the movie so much more evil than himself?

A guttural chortle played from the TV speakers as the bad guy pulled out a gun, shooting it into thin air. Suddenly, a portal appeared, and the set pieces were sucked towards the hole, including the main hero.

Eggman sneered. Those sorts of things don't work - he knew that from experience. Sonic has already overcome black holes and being zapped into other dimensions. Then, gradually, a smile crept onto his face. _If I can't beat the blasted hedgehog, he can have this God-forsaken island. If I go somewhere where he can't stop me – then I win! _Eggman suddenly burst out laughing. Orbot and Cubot tilted their heads in confusion as the Doctor shot up and sped off to his workshop. The two bots looked at each other, surprised to see Eggman perk up so rapidly.

* * *

A few days later, Sonic and his friends were laid out on the beach, catching some rays. Sonic had his hands cushioning his head and his eyes covered with shades.

"Guys?" The unsure voice of Amy Rose came.

Sonic tilted up his shades and glanced over at the other hedgehog; Tails looked up from building a sandcastle; Knuckles hit a punching bag that then swung back and hit him when he looked at Amy and Sticks stopped polishing her bayonet.

"Don't you think it's weird that we haven't heard anything from Eggman in a while?" She sat up on her deckchair. "He's usually plotting something big when he goes quiet like this."

There was a brief silence cast over the group. Tails' expression began to morph into worry.

"Ah, don't worry about it." Sonic adjusted his shades to sit over his eyes again. "We can take on anything that Egghead throws at us." He closed his eyes, but then yelped and flailed as Amy pulled him up by his ear.

"Sonic! That's not the right kind of attitude to have!" She scolded, removing his sunglasses so that she could lecture him to his face. "People are relying on us to protect the village! You can't just ignore Eggman if he's cooking up something big."

"Amy has a point." Tails hummed as he rubbed his chin. "Most other times when Eggman's gone silent he's been doing something big! Aside from that whole… procrastination episode." He idly allowed his two tails to sway. "Maybe we should just check on him?"

Sonic continued to flail until Amy let go. He straightened himself up, adjusted his quills and retrieved his shades, setting them back over his eyes. He laughed at the concern in the air, trying to turn things around towards being more humorous.

"Oh, come on, guys! You don't actually think that lardass can be dangerous, right?" His face dropped slightly as Amy and Tails continued to look concerned. He looked at Knuckles, who also appeared concerned, then set his wrists on his hips. "Oh, come on, Knuckles! Don't tell me you're worried too?"

"Worried?" Knuckled laughed. "Knuckles is never worried." He patted Sonic's head. "I think you're venting your emotions on me. Never fear, Knuckles will always be here!"

Sonic grunted his disapproval of the petting. He folded his arms and tapped his foot as the tense atmosphere created by Tails and Amy began to sink in. He growled, flinging his arms out. "Fine! I'll go." And with that, he raised his leg and was gone in a flash. Amy and Tails relaxed a bit after Sonic left. Knuckles scratched his head.

"Was it something I said?"

* * *

When Sonic arrived at Eggman's base, he knocked on the door politely. He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for an answer – any answer. Receiving none, Sonic's posture sunk as he groaned. He took a step back and charged up a spin dash, smashing the door down. He landed on his feet and began to zip through the base, hands cupped around his mouth. "Come on out, Eggbreath! I know you're here! Show yourself!" He yelled. He checked the living room, the kitchen, the bedrooms, the evil basement, the workshop…

Sonic huffed as he stood in the control room. There was no Eggman in sight. Come to think of it, there was no Orbot or Cubot in sight, either. Nor were there any badniks. Sonic took off his shades as he stared at the large screen showing all the security footage in the base. The place was completely devoid of life, with everything still running. "Huh… it's like he just… disappeared." Sonic observed, brief concern filling him before he shrugged. "Free vacation for us I guess! I'm sure he'll leap out some time or another." Sonic folded up his shades as he strolled out the base, returning to relax with his friends.

* * *

**A/N 10/06/2019**  
**OK, first point is that this story is currently 2 years old. It was first released on Quotev and Quotev will always be updated first. I'm not moving it here to reach a wider audience.**

**This story is not a re-telling of the show. It is a separate entity written after season 2. If the show continues in the future, I sadly can't time skip and reference it. There may be elements in this story that could clash with potential future elements to the show if it were to continue. If you wanted a re-telling, my apologies.**

**I may change the title in the future. Don't be surprised if I do, I just find the title too boring and I can't be bothered to think of a decent one yet.**


	2. Chapter 2

Gwen grit her teeth anxiously as she passed the robot guards that blocked the way into the train station. One gripped her left arm and scanned her wrist. Below her skin sat a small chip, a form of ID that robots could access and track. After scanning, the visor of the bot turned green and flashed twice. Gwen had successfully passed their test. She made her way towards a bench until she heard a scream from behind. She whipped her head back – the robots had grabbed a woman and were dragging her away. The child that accompanied her, possibly around the age of four or five, cried and wailed, trying to follow before a person waiting further back in line gripped them. They hoisted the child from the ground, holding them tight to reduce their struggling.

Gwen grimaced at the scene, eyes threatening to well up with tears. She was powerless to help and everyone knew the fate of the people taken by any of the so-called 'badniks'. She took a breath and willed her sadness back. Tears don't help in times like these. And these were desperate times. Desperate times called for action. She took a moment to remind herself of the need to act. Once she felt the point had sunk in, she slid her backpack off of her shoulder and sat on the bench as she waited for the train to roll in. From the bag, there dangled a keychain of an arrow through a circle.

* * *

The journey on the train felt long for her, but short by most standards – just an hour. Despite the moral state of the world, the public transport system sure had improved – alongside a number of other things. The crime rate was way down, mortality too. But, for those things, the price was just too much. She had never liked the state of the world. It was always bad. Her father's pessimism only darkened her view of the world more. Never, though, had she imagined that life in the shoddy island of the United Kingdom, in boring old England, in a small and boring middle-of-nowhere town, would become militarised.

She stared out the window as the train slowed. With her chin rested in her palm, her fingers tensed and began to grip her cheek. If the world was bad before, it was tenfold now. One hundredfold. And all the misery was down to one man – Doctor Ivo Robotnik.

When the train pulled to a halt, a synthesized voice crackled out of the speakers. "London, Kings Cross Station reached. Lord Robotnik wishes you a good day. We thank you, Lord Robotnik." The voice fizzled out as Gwen gripped her backpack and hoisted it over her shoulder, exiting the train.

* * *

She looked around the station. There were plenty of people milling around it. Not as busy as it used to be though. That said, she had only visited London twice before. Her memory of the capitol was fuzzy at best.

She began making her way out of the station, watching robots clean the floors and trains, pick up litter and performing random checks on people that were just passing through. _Christ, they're like how the traffic cops used to be. But worse. Wow. I never thought I'd think that. _Gwen briefly pulled her bag off from her shoulder to sift through it. She pulled out a nutrition bar and munched away on it as she shut herself off from the background noise of idle chatting, trains pulling in and wails of fear.

* * *

Eventually, Gwen found her way to Trafalgar Square. The place was packed. Of course, it would be. Today, Lord Robotnik was to make a public appearance. He was arrogant enough to think he could parade around like he owned the place. Well, he did own the place. A slight frown covered Gwen's face as the thought of the dictator made her blood boil. It was then that a man came over and stood by her. He looked at her.

"Having a good day, sweet cheeks?" He asked, though he looked more serious than anything else.

Gwen looked over the man. _The code phrase, huh?_ From his earring dangled the sign of an arrow through a circle. She hummed, taking note of the accessory.

"No day's bad when Lord Robotnik's around." Gwen folded her hands behind her back. "How long till the event starts?"

"Around ten minutes. Though it'll take half an hour for him to get here." The man grumbled. "But all the action will be here. The speech and such."

Gwen's mouth tugged up into a slight smile. _All the action. Guess there's quite a few of us, then. _She nodded to show acknowledgement of the man's statement.

"When the light show ends, we move." With that, the man gave a small, reassuring smile to the young woman that stood by him, then left. In many ways, he pitied her. No young adult should have to fight for freedom, but he supposed she understood the risks. Everybody knew the risks of opposing Lord Robotnik. He didn't know her name, age, where she came from or the background she had – but he knew she stood as his ally that day.

Gwen looked at the back of the crowd. She began pushing her way through to the front until she reached the barrier – a digital-looking screen split into hexagonal sections and tinted a shade of neon blue. All she had to do was watch and wait for the show to begin.

* * *

Sure enough, half an hour down the line, a round mass of the robotnik kind came rolling down the road behind the barrier. In front, behind and to either side were robot guards – The bulky badnik kind. Gwen pressed her hands to the barrier as she watched, a faint rippling glow flowing out from her contact with the barrier.

He stopped a distance away from her, facing the crowd. One of the robots handed him a slip of paper, but as he took a breath to begin reading, an object slammed into the barrier. It gripped onto the barrier with six metal claws as it shone, then exploded! The barrier flashed a brilliant white and shattered.

"Wh- What!" Robotnik hissed. "Who did that?!"

Gwen sucked in a breath and knew that must have been the signal. She ran at the robots. Other people also charged in from the crowd, but they were only a handful all together from what Gwen could see. It was hardly the group Gwen had expected but she had already separated from the protection of the crowd. She slammed into the first robot she could, twisting its head off with ease. She stared at the bot for a moment, surprised as how frail the thing was before she spun around and leapt at Robotnik. The doctor seemed less than amused, but didn't move to escape her attack. Something about that confidence seemed off and despite the fact that other people from the crowd seemed to be joining the attack of their own free will, Gwen still felt her stomach drop.

Gwen yelled out in pain, a searing pain shooting through her as she hit the ground and collapsed to her knees. She looked up to see one of the robots had transformed its right arm into a gun, before it picked her up by her back and in one swift, firm movement, slammed her down onto the waiting ground.

Everything went black.

* * *

Some time later, Gwen awoke. It took her a few seconds to regain herself, though she regretted it when she did. Her head was pounding. Pain shot through her like lightning as she gripped her leg. A clean hole had been shot through it, though most of the flesh had been seared, it still dribbled thick flows of blood in places. She wouldn't be walking anywhere. She gritted her teeth, tears pouring out her eyes. "Fuck, fuck-" She hissed, trying to breathe. She could barely register that her surroundings were a pristine white cell with the exception of one transparent slot. She didn't know where she was. She could barely remember that she didn't make it far into the fight. What's worse, she could easily assume the small group lost miserably by her current predicament. Gwen curled up on the floor, wishing she could reverse time just a little. Just enough to make things turn out the right way. Enough to make a difference. She set her jaw as she refused to let her dread and fear lead her to cry like whimpering child. She wouldn't show that weakness.

Gwen looked up as metal footsteps clanked towards her cell. A badnik stopped outside, just visible through the slot. She scowled at it. She hated it. She wanted to see it destroyed – to see it as a sparking pile of junk on the ground. Despite that, she knew that wasn't going to happen with her injury. She also knew it wasn't going to just leave her alone. It came to her cell. It wanted her. Gwen tried to push herself up to stand – to retain dignity. Losing her battle didn't mean she had to lose her pride too. She leaned heavily on her uninjured leg, feeling dizzy and light-headed as blood slowly continued to ooze from the wound. The robot let itself into the cell, gripping Gwen by the arm like a vice and yanking her out. She did her best to keep up pace with the bot by hopping but she quickly tired and ended up being dragged the rest of the way to wherever she was going.

* * *

It wasn't long before she found out where that was. Her heart sank as she looked around the room. Robots that look suspiciously like people stood at the wall. They looked cold and lifeless. Their sharp features and red, digital eyes stood out. Their fingers were like talons and in the centre of their chests were concave holes that whirred, sucking in air to cool their inner systems. They were once people. They were now weapons.

"Oh-ho-ho!" A familiar chortle wriggled into her ears. Gwen's gaze drifted across the room until it settled on Robotnik. "If it isn't the tyke that went straight for the throat. How aggressive." He mused, twizzling his moustache. "What a shame you had to go and lose that battle!" He laughed heartily.

Gwen grunted. There weren't any words to say. As the doctor continued to drivel on, amused with his victory, she saw two machines in the room. One mostly consisted of a glass tube. Gwen shuddered. She could take a decent guess at what that was. The other looked more like a large, metal box, though it had a control panel sticking out of it.

"Are you even paying attention to me?" Robotnik bellowed, slamming his fists down with a thud.

Gwen jolted and turned to face him. However much she hated to acknowledge it, she was scared. She knew her fate was sealed now. Before Robotnik's invasion, she never imagined this would be the way she would go – she figured she'd get hit by a car.

"Little brat. Get her into the stupid thing." Robotnik ordered, and the robot gripping the woman dragged her towards the tube. "You'll damn well listen to me when your insides are wires and circuit boards!"

Gwen thrashed with what strength she had against the bot. The tub descended, but zipped straight back into place once she was placed in - trapping her. She growled, placing her hands on the glass. She glared at Robotnik.

"You'll never win, you bubbery motherfucker!" She screeched, her throat burning with intensity of her yell.

"Oh! Now she speaks." Robotnik sneered, "But dear, I've already won!" He grinned as he reached to the side, pulling a lever.

Gwen looked down as the bottom of the tube began to glow blue. She began to feel heavy. She balled her hands into fists as fear shot through her being and tears trickled down her cheeks. _My feet. Why can't I feel my feet? Why is that feeling of nothingness climbing me? Is this really what it feels like to be roboticized? _Gwen's eyes frantically darted across the room. Her snapped open wide as she focused on the tube itself - an odd glint on the glass has caught her attention. Gwen further examined the area to find that there was a small crack! She took a breath and lifted her leg. Though she couldn't feel it, she could control it even if it was heavy. She was thankful she still had some control her own body. Rearing her foot back, she smashed her foot over the crack. She refused to miss the opportunity to try and escape.

Robotnik's gleeful grin only grew as she struggled. This one was a fighter. He did enjoy it when they struggled, however helpless the attempt was.

Gwen smashed again. And again. And again. And her foot smashed through the casing with a crash as shards clattered along the ground! She quickly smashed more away trying to squeeze out the gap, the sharp edge of the glass cutting her cheek, as the feeling of nothingness consumed her right arm.

Robotnik's expression plummeted and he jumped to his feet. "No, No!" He looked at the robots in the room. "Get her you tin cans!" He spat as he panicked. He'd suffered enough failures before and this woman would not be another.

A red and yellow pair of bots poked their head into the room and floated to Robotnik. "Does that include us, too?" Cubot asked.

"No! What could you possibly do with real weapons around?" Robotnik snarled.

Gwen panted as she dragged her body further from the machine. She looked up to see robots approaching. She growled. She was mentally exhausted. _So tired…_ _ no, no, don't get caught up. Now or never. Now or never! _She psyched herself up and charged at Robotnik, laser shots deflecting off of her now-metal extremities, though sear marks were left behind. She barrelled into Robotnik, who only looked back at her at the last second. The colourful little bots had distracted him enough for her to get close.

"Gah! Get off of me!" He commanded, but then panicked as shots landed near him. "Stop firing, stop firing!"

Gwen yanked up the doctor with her metal arm and threw him into the control panel of the box machine. A purple jewel that hung around his neck flew off with the momentum. Robotnik's eyes snapped wide open. The machine whirred and sparked, light seeping out of it. Gwen let go of Robotnik and took a step back, fearful of the machine. Robotnik got up. He also appeared worried. Within the second, a disorganised brightness formed and sucked in Robotnik! Along with him, it sucked in debris scattered close by and Gwen before the machine exploded, leaving the room a burning pit of fire.


	3. Chapter 3

Sonic was bored senseless. There was no Eggman on the island. With no Eggman about, there was no one to defend the island from. With no island to defense, Sonic had nothing to do. He grumbled as he rolled over in his hammock. When he thought Eggman's disappearance would just be an extended vacation, he did not realise it would last two weeks. _Two_ **_whole_** **_weeks_**.

Tails hovered in the doorway, watching Sonic with worry. The last time Eggman had disappeared, Sonic went nuts then lost his motivation. Without a decent enemy on the island, he was refusing to budge from his hut. His speed-addicted friend had turned into a self-pitying zombie. He growled quietly, then walked over to the hedgehog layabout.

"Come on, Sonic! Everyone's going out to play some soccer. You should come too!" Tails pleaded. He had tried every day to get Sonic out. Everyone had. His hopes for kicking some life into the blue blur were not very high.

Sonic just groaned and waved his hand towards the door to dismiss Tails. "No, Tails." Sonic rubbed his eye as his gaze drifted towards his two-tailed companion. "You go."

"But Sonic, everyone's really wo-" Tails began, but was interrupted by a **BOOM**. "What was that?" He whipped around, ears twitching in all possible directions. The noise sounded like it had come from everywhere!

Sonic sat up. He was still for a moment, his only movement being caused by the swinging of his hammock. His lazy expression had widened, some life shot into his emerald eyes. "Eggman!" He announced, never happier to say that name. The blue blur leapt out of his hammock and zipped out of the hut.

Tails hesitated for a second. His face lit up with a wide grin when he realised Sonic had gained some energy back. He followed in his friend outside, eager to accompany him on the next adventure.

Outside, Sonic had stopped. He stared at the sky. Tails joined his side. One by one, the whole gang joined. A gigantic purple vortex had formed in the sky, blocking out the dazzling rays of the sun and letting out an ominous rumbling sound. Each member of the gang could feel their body vibrating.

"What is _that_?" Amy rested one hand on her hip, piko piko hammer in hand.

"I-I don't know!" Tails flattened his ears as he pulled out his analytical device.

Sonic frowned as he scanned the vortex. Though, his expression jumped into that of shock when, as fast as the vortex appeared, it disappeared - shrinking in on itself until there was nothing left. He leaned slightly to one side, his shocked expression turned back sour. Sonic felt cheated. The one interesting thing to happen in two whole weeks and nothing had actually happened. The dumb problem had solved itself.

"Well, that was uneventful." He mumbled as he turned and began heading back inside. "Wake me when a terrifying evil comes to overthrow the village." He rolled his eyes.

"No, wait!" Tails shouted, though not at Sonic. His eyes were fixed on some dots in the sky. "Things came out of that portal! I think it's falling! They're falling? Uh, I don't know! Something is falling!"

Sonic glanced back. "Something?" He looked at the sky. He straightened when he saw silhouettes getting bigger as they came down. "Are those- Are they alive or is it junk?"

Tail frowned as he stared at his device's screen intensely. "At least two of the objects have vital signs."

"There's living things falling from that height?" Amy almost shrieked.

"We'll catch 'em!" Knuckled proclaimed, punching his fists together.

Tails jumped and shook his head at Knuckle's suggestion. "No! If you catch them they'll squish you! Completely! There'll be at terminal velocity well before they reach the ground and they're falling into the canyon. I can estimate where they'll land but-" Tails stopped as sonic zipped off. Sonic returned a moment later, dropping off a bungie cord. He zipped off again as Tails picked up the cord. Tails frowned slightly, "I see..." He began running off into the jungle. The rest of the gang followed him.

Within a couple minutes they had set up a large grid of bungie cords, which were attached to the cliff faces on either side of the canyon. Sonic stared up at the figures, tapping his foot. "And you're sure this is where they'll land?" He looked over at Tails.

Tails nodded. "Even though this might work, you're going to have to try and grab them Sonic. If they get flung in a different direction other than up this will be useless. Even if you don't stop them, which you probably won't, some of their energy will be transferred into you, making it safer."

Sonic nodded and zipped up to the top of the canyon.

He did not have to wait long before the figures came zooming down into the net. They hit the instant he reached the top of the canyon. Sonic grabbed them both as they hit the net, though he was flung up with them.

"Woah!" He cried as he was carried with them and rotated by the force.

Tails shook his head, "Oh-" He ran to Amy, "Give me a boost!" He commanded as he leapt onto her Piko Piko hammer.

"Right!" Amy responded, rearing the hammer back and flinging the fox into the air.

Once high enough, Tail twisted up his tails and hovered, grabbing Sonic's hand. "I got yo- oof!" Tails gritted his teeth as the full weight of all three bodies pulled down on him. He could not hold them up and all four people fell back into the net. They bounced fairly high, bumping into each other, though the motion was not nearly as dangerous as it could have been.

Sonic let out a sigh of relief, and fist-bumped Tails. "Good job, bud."

Tails grinned and nodded as they all slowly stopped bouncing. He looked at the two that fell. There was a stranger, which was not all that surprising, and- "Eggman?!" Tails leapt up, struggling to keep his balance as the net wobbled.

Sonic stood too, folding his arms. He stared at Eggman with a frown, wondering if he really had been up to something during the time he was gone. The giant portal certainly suggested that he had been up to something sneaky. Eggman looked up at them both. He was disorientated but up he got, even if he did fall over immediately after.

The stranger then stirred. She groaned. She first saw a blue blur, then a slightly clearer orange one, then, turning a little more, a blurry but identifiable Ivo Robotnik. She clenched her fists and tried to get up, but helplessly flopped around in the net like a fish out of water.

Sonic padded over to deal with Eggman, while Tails approached the stranger, "Hey! Hey! Wait! Calm down. You took a big fall but you're okay. At least... we think you are. We haven't checked yet." As the fox boy reached out to help the stranger up, she flinched away and smacked his hand. "Ow!" He rubbed his hand. That hurt! He felt like he had just been whacked with a frying pan. The stranger helped herself up, a little bit of guilt seeping into her expression of fear before she was distracted by Eggman. Tails flopped one ear down as she became visibly furious.

The stranger git her teeth and waddled her way across the net. "Robotnik, you motherfucker! Get here! Right now!" She screamed, arms flailing to keep her upright and the net bouncing with each uncoordinated step.

Sonic and Tails shared a confused look. Eggman looked at her before deciding now was a good time to go. He looked at Sonic and Tails, waving his arms in pitiable display of self-defence. "Well, it's been a nice reunion, got to go!" He fled from the net, each step unsteady but faster and more coordinated than that of the stranger.

The stranger screamed when she could not catch up to the doctor. She sunk to her knees, breathing heavily. The fat man had gotten away. She was disorientated, lost, exhausted and anguished. On top of that, she failed to kill the wretched man. She gritted her teeth and clung her head as she cried.

Sonic and Tails shared a look of bewilderment. They were both questioning in their minds what had just happened – and why was this human stranger so frustrated?


	4. Chapter 4

Gwen could not believe she had failed. Well, she could. She could entirely believe she failed - but for her to be so close and fail? She stared at the net, gripping it like a lifeline for her sanity, until a hand rested itself on her shoulder. She snapped to attention, her tears ceasing but their remnants still slipping down her cheeks. She looked up to see a creature like she had never seen before. A blue and spiky creature. In her blind rage and disorientation, she had paid no attention to where she was or who the people that saved her were. Was this creature even a person?

"Hey…" It said. It_ spoke_. "Rest a while, we'll take you somewhere safe."

Gwen said nothing. She just stared at the creature. It appeared to get rather uncomfortable under her intense stare. Gwen twisted her head as another voice perked up. A fluffy orange thing.

"Ah, she must be really out of it." It said. "Or maybe injured. Maybe I should check her over?"

"Guys, are they okay?" Another thing called as it made its way towards the makeshift net. A pink spiky thing.

"They probably just need time to rest, but I-I'll need time to see if she's completely okay!" The orange one yelled back.

Gwen had had enough. She didn't need to listen to these things talk about her while she sat there. She pushed herself up and waddled along the net to solid land. Her stomach was performing flips and every time her foot slipped through the net, she felt her insides drop like lead weights. She took a few unsteady steps on the solid rock, then tried to run but instead she launched herself face-first into the ground. She groaned. She had overestimated the amount of power her legs would need. A buzz sound came from behind. She lifted her head to see what it was and was met by the face of the blue creature.

"Where do you think you're going?" It tilted its head. It reached down and hoisted her up with a huff. "Wow, oh... wow! You are waaaay heavier than you look…" It groaned, letting go once Gwen was on her feet. "Hey, Knuckles?" It called, "You might need to come and carry this one!" He yelled, walking over to the edge of the canyon. "She doesn't walk well and she weighs a ton! ... Literally…" It rubbed its head, looking over Gwen with a quizzical look as it tried to figure out how she was so heavy for her size.

Gwen still wanted to leave but she waited. She couldn't move well, her head felt foggy and these things did not seem to have any ill intent towards her. They were wanting to help her from what she could see and hear. She had no reason to deny them, especially since it benefited her if they were going to aid her. Even if she did say no, she would just be helpless afterwards and she did not fancy facing any form of unknown wilderness alone. Gwen decided that chancing it with the strangers was a more attractive prospect than waddling aimlessly through the wilds.

Soon enough, a large red creature approached and hoisted Gwen up, slinging her over its shoulder. Gwen grunted. When she thought the creatures were going to help, she did not imagine being carted around like a piece of meat.

"Heavy? pfft! She's a feather." It waved a nonchalant hand.

"Knuckles!" The pink one yelled as she crossed the net. "Don't carry her like that! It's rude and demeaning. Bridal style, bridal style!"

Knuckles tilted its head. The pink one dragged her hand down her face in frustration. Clearly, 'Knuckles' was not the brightest bulb of the bunch.

"Carry her like…" She looked at the blue one, "Sonic! Show him!"

Sonic folded its arms, "With what bride?" It smirked as the pink one glared daggers.

"Just do it." The pink one demanded, before being whisked off of its feet and into the blue one's arms. She looked back at Knuckles. "Copy Sonic."

"Oooh." Knuckles nodded and unceremoniously flipped Gwen around in its arms into a more appropriate carrying position.

Gwen was beginning to feel sick and overly man-handled already. Thankfully, though potentially unthankfully for her, the group set off to wherever they were taking her. Gwen just hoped they would get there soon and that 'there' was a welcoming location with a nice place for her to lie down and rest. Though, she had to admit that despite not knowing the intentions of the group, being carried made her feel more comfortable.

After some time travelling, Gwen was taken into a hut and laid on a bed. It groaned under her weight. She grimaced at the thought of what she had become. She remembered the group saying something about taking her to "Tails' house". She looked over at the group - all eyes were on her. She was beginning to feel vulnerable again, so she folded her arms defensively but diverted her own gaze away.

"D-don't look at me like that." She mumbled and stared at the ceiling instead. Counting the amount of wood planks in the ceiling served as a decent distraction from the group of strangers. It was not quite so effective at quelling the many thoughts racing around in her head. The mess her mind was becoming was blocking her from processing the situation well. She could not decide whether to focus her thoughts on how she was now in a strange place or how she was with strange creatures or how she was now with a body partially made of metal.

"Ah, S-sorry." She heard one mumble. It sounded like the orange one. "If you wouldn't mind, I need to check you over for injuries."

"I'm fine." Gwen snapped. She scrunched up her face, a bit displeased with herself. She was not normally abrupt or rude but with how on edge she felt, she had no real trust to offer these creatures. "I'm just… dizzy. I would…" She sucked in a breath, trying her best to carefully form her words. "Appreciate some time… alone. To think and… collect myself."

There was a silence, followed by the shuffle of footsteps as the group left the hut. She sat up once she was sure they were gone, fiddling with her fingers. She glanced down at her right hand, curling it into a fist and stretching it out again. She would have to come to terms with a new way of life. She held her stomach, finding that to still be squishy, though she wondered how much of her insides were changed. Would that be dangerous?

Gwen shook her head. She could not worry about that! She figured that if the roboticization process had really messed up her insides she would be seriously ill or dead by now. _But what if that's something hard to identify from looks and feeling alone is damaged? Like my kidneys... or my liver... _She rubbed her chin, looking at her legs. _I suppose my circulatory system must be fine... no arteries cut off... I aren't dead afterall... _Gwen pushed herself up from the bed and waddled to a nearby full-body mirror. _Oh, wow, I look... bulky. Those thighs... _She grimaced, rubbing her chin as she analysed her form in the mirror. Gwen figured that she was, at the very least, lucky. She was lucky to be herself and to have only parts that she could cover up be metal. She smiled slightly, folding her arms. _Yeah! Positive thinking! _She smiled, though it did not last long as the reality of the situation kept desperately trying to sink in. _Wait. I'm sure these creatures are nice. I must warn them about Robotnik or they might suffer like we did... and maybe if I just... talk to a few at a time it'll be... bearable. Agh, I feel bad for being weary of them when they seem so kind. Though... _Gwen glanced around the hut,_ I think I should... wait to talk with them again. _With that thought, she headed over to what looked like a kitchen, pulling out cutlery from various draws. _Weird how all of this is so... human-like. They're just weird, short, animal-humans. _Gwen chuckled with a slight smile. _And I guess some of them don't look so scary. Goofy, really. I shouldn't tell them that though. Might offend someone._ She smiled, reflecting on the group's actions to assess the next best moves to make. In the meantime, she also took a little time to snoop around - poking in and out of draws and cupboards, and feeling curtains and blankets and cushions.

After some time, Gwen felt somewhat relaxed. The environment was becoming familiar – at least in the house. Nothing beyond the building was settling in at all. Regardless, she carefully made her way to the door, still walking with an edge of stiffness. She opened it and stepped out to find the group still sat outside, waiting. Albeit, looking rather bored.


	5. Chapter 5

Sonic turned his head round as the stranger came out. He shot up. "Finally! You took your time." He smirked, his tone portraying his words as a joke. However, he really was beginning to get far too bored waiting. He had considered shooting off numerous times.

The stranger looked across the others, then at him. She reached behind her head and grinned slightly. "Yeah, sorry about that. I'm... feeling more comfortable at least. To talk and... stuff?" She pouted and glanced away, though that did not last long. She looked back at the group, putting back on a cheery expression as she waddled over. "Thank you for... whatever you did. I suppose it saved me." She offered handshakes to everyone, Sonic being the last to receive one. He gave an odd look to the hands when they connected, though Gwen thought nothing of it. "It wouldn't have been great to go from the frying pan and into the fire! Well... I guess I did do that... but the fire didn't burn." She chuckled.

"Fire? I didn't see any fire." Knuckled folded his arms.

Army sighed, "It's an idiom, Knuckles."

"Hey! Who're you calling an idiot? And why do I feel like I should be offended?"

The stranger watched them babble. Sonic shook his head. "Ah, don't mind them." He mused, catching her attention, "We're a mixed bunch. Anyway! I'm Sonic." He smiled, "And you can let go now."

The stranger looked confused before she realised she was still holding his hand. Her eyes widened, and she quickly let go. "Sorry, sorry! Got distracted. Nice to meet you, Sonic. I'm Gwen. I, uh... if you don't mind me asking, what are you? I've never seen anything like you before."

Sonic folded his arms. "You mean you've never seen anything so handsome before?" He winked, and as Gwen raised a finger to object, he continued. "We're Mobians. As you know, I'm Sonic and I'm important enough to get two introductions, my two-tailed buddy is fittingly named Tails," He slapped Tails on the back, "the pink squeaker and our primary female resident is Amy," Amy set her hands on her hips and shot Sonic a glare, "the beefcake is Knuckles and-" Sonic looked around. He hummed. "We also have a paranoid nutjob called Sticks – our secondary female resident." He pulled his mouth into a thin line. "We're not rare or anything."

Tails raised his voice, "But there are areas where only humans inhabit. To be honest, this island is almost exclusively populated by Mobians. The only human is Eggman."

Gwen glanced at the fox, "Eggman? You mean Robotnik?"

Sonic released a puff of air as he held in a laugh, "Robotnik? Who even calls him that anymore?"

Gwen looked a little confused. These people knew the evil genius, but they did not seem to fear him. She folded one arm across her chest and leant her other elbow on it so that she could rest her cheek in her hand. "So, you... know him?"

"Of course!" Sonic rolled his eyes, "We fight him all the time. He's a pushover. Barely passes as an opponent."

Gwen glanced back into the forest. "I'm not so sure about that." She mumbled. She looked back at the two buddies, "So, where am I?"

"Bygone Island." Amy said, making Gwen jump with the suddenness of her interjection. "We're pretty far from any mainland but the climate does wonders for your complexion." She held her cheeks, swaying somewhat.

Gwen sighed. "I-I don't know a place named that..." She frowned, grumbling, "Then again my geography isn't great." She mumbled, before raising her voice again, "I also think I'd be aware if there were giant, bipedal... animal-like creatures walking around the planet. Especially if they aren't rare." She removed her hand from her chin and loosely folded her arms. "This doesn't make any sense and... ah, it gives me a bad feeling about the situation." She shook her head. "Anyway, are you lot sure this 'Eggman' is a pushover? He hasn't, like, taken over the world in the past two years or anything?"

"Eggman? Take over the world? I'd pay to see that!" Sonic laughed, but then his face and tone fell dead serious. "Because he won't. Because I'm around. He can't take over this island, let alone the world."

Gwen nodded. Things were starting to look grim. She did not know what that portal did, but one thing she knew for almost certain: she was not on the planet she knew. Thoughts raced through her mind, wondering if she was in a future where human civilisation had collapsed or merged with these 'Mobians' or possible in a different dimension altogether. "Right... Um... I don't suppose I could... stick around and live with one of you guys..? I have no idea where I am and I don't have a penny to my name. At least, I don't think I do."

"Of course!" Tails nodded, "You can stay here. I spend most of my time in my workshop anyway."

"Thank you." Gwen smiled her gratitude. "Now I'm... gonna go rest." She announced, swivelling on her feet and waddling back to the house with heavy steps, arms out to keep her balance. Her attempt to keep upright failed and she fell flat on the ground

Tails tilted his ears back, "Are you sure you're okay?" He ran over to Gwen, and crouched beside her.

"I'm fine!" She stuck her hand in the air, giving a thumbs up. She pushed up her torso. "I'm just really... heavy. I feel light, but I'm heavy. Not a good combination." She growled, working her way back to standing on two feet.

"Ha! Tell me about it. You should hit the gym sometime." Sonic laughed as Gwen shot a glare back at him.

After accomplishing her goal of making her way into Tails' shack, Gwen managed to get some rest on the bed as the gang went and did their own things. Occasionally, one would come in and check on her. Amy brought magazines for Gwen to read; Tails checked that she was comfortable; Knuckles came to flex and Sticks came to warn her of the impeding robot doom that awaited the world.

Gwen was now sat at the couch, face buried in one of the magazines Amy brought. She did not really have an interest in what it said, but she was finding out that one of these animal creatures called "Tommy" was a famous actor. _I'd know if these creatures existed if some are famous. And I've never heard of these movies he's in. For an A-list actor, that seems pretty odd. I need to stop trying to convince myself I'm somewhere familiar. These aren't people just walking around in fur suits..._

A buzz sounded, briefly getting louder before Gwen was hit by a sot breeze. She looked up to see Sonic with two fast-food bags in hand. He held one out to her.

"Figured you'd be getting hungry by now." He explained as she took the bag.

Gwen studied to logo.

"Meh burger?" She tilted her head slightly. "Seems like a rip-off of McDonalds. Or Burger King. Or..." She put a finger to her chin, but shook her head slightly. "Well, actually... I don't know any more fast-food chains that have signature burgers."

Sonic plopped down on the couch, opening his bag and pulling out a chilli dog. "I wouldn't say rip-off! That degrades the reputation of whatever those places you said are - implying that Meh burger has mimicked them in any way, I mean. The food from Meh burger is neither fast nor food." Sonic commented in a matter-of-fact manner, then took a bite out of his chilli dog. "I'm pretty sure it'd be better to live off cardboard than this stuff."

Gwen watched Sonic, then eyed her bag suspiciously. "Then why are you eating it?"

Sonic shrugged. "It's almost better than nothing. Almost."

Gwen opened her bag, also pulling out a chilli dog. She inhaled as she stared it down. _Not fast, nor food_. She repeated in her mind. She did not even like the look of the chilli dog. She knew what it was, but she had never bothered to try the things. There were usually better options available and they were rare to see. She could only recall ever finding them at temporary stalls set up at carnivals and in parking lots. Despite that, she still took a bite. She could not deny that Sonic's suspicions were correct - she was hungry.

After a couple of chews of the substance, she stopped. She swallowed, but her body felt like it was gurgling. The chilli dog was not no her taste. However, in her bid to not displease her saviour, she continued to eat, despite occasionally having to choke back a gag.

After managing to finish her chilli dog, and managing to feel sick in the process, she looked at Sonic. He had scarfed down his chilli dog long before her, and was occupied by the TV. She looked over Sonic. _Is it weird that only some of these creatures wear clothes? _

"So..." She scrunched up the Meh burger bag she had used as a plate, but kept it close by in case the chilli dog decided her body was not the place to be. "Are you, like, a porcupine or something?"

Sonic folded his arms behind his head, eyes not leaving the screen. "Never seen a hedgehog before?"

"Yeah... but they... didn't look like you." Sonic glanced at her with a devious glint in his eye. Gwen frowned, already catching on to his drift. "No. No, not like that, Sonic." He just smirked and focused back on the TV. "And what are the rest?"

"Tails is a fox, Amy is a hedgehog, Sticks is a badger and Knuckles is an Echidna."

"Right... Tails is... the only one that looks like what he's supposed to be." She glanced at the ceiling as she thought. "Despite being... kind of yellow. And... I'm pretty sure he has two Tails." Her expression became more unsure. "And he flies." She folded her arms and sunk back into the couch.

Sonic looked over, "Gee, you really don't know what's going on. Maybe you hit your head of something."

Gwen shook her head. "No." She tore her gaze away from the ceiling to look at Sonic. "I'm pretty sure that whatever I got pulled into has put in in a different time... maybe planet." She groaned and sunk back further. "Maybe dimension."

"Sounds serious. We can have Tails look into it." Sonic stood up. "He's our native genius."

"Ehh." Gwen looked up at him as uncertainty entered her mind. "I don't know. The place I come from isn't very good right now..." She got up, unfolding her arms to gesture towards herself. "Plus I'm not needed!" She shook her head, "Nope, not one bit! I did my part!" She set her hands on her hips. "I'm pretty sure I'm an unspoken hero for my world now. Emphasis on unspoken. Everyone will just think I'm dead. And died unsuccessful..." She lowered one hand from her side. "I guess my family will... also think that. Not that anyone knew I was doing something anyway." She mumbled, gradually getting quieter. "I guess I can't... just up leave my family. I shouldn't do that to them, it's rotten..."

Sonic pulled his mouth into a thin line as he tried to make sense of what Gwen was saying. It sounded complicated. It was hard to believe her mumbo-jumbo about dimensions and time and planets as is, even if Sonic had already experienced some strange things himself.

"That... sounds like you've been through a lot. Anyway, we should still have Tails investigate. Who knows what sort of stuff could happen if you stay here? We don't know if it's safe for you to stay." Sonic pointed out. Gwen's posture sunk a little. She nodded, understanding the predicament.

Gwen watched Sonic as he sped out the shack. She wished she could go home, though only to make sure her family was okay. The reality was that where she was now in a place far better than home. The world she had come from could probably recover without Robotnik to command his bots, and while her family might think she was gone, they were strong. They could pull through. Besides, it would not be a shock for them to find that she might have been taken too, given how many other people disappeared overnight. That said, she did feel a pang of guilt as she tried to justify her wish to stay on the calm, tropical island paradise.


	6. Chapter 6

Tails pulled up his welding mask as he lifted his blow torch away from the metal panelling of a machine he was working on. He turned to Sonic.

"You can't be serious. Gwen thinks she's from somewhere totally different from our world?" His tails swished behind him. "That ridiculous! And while dimensional travel is definitely possible, time travel and life on other planets is highly questionable."

"These things are no stranger than anything else we've done, Tails! Besides, we... have gone through time travel and fought with aliens already." Sonic drooped his eyelids. "Man, we live weird lives. And why do I remember these things? I swear they're supposed to be part of a different continuity."

Tails scratched his chin. "I think Sticks is rubbing off on you with all that crazy-talk. But, okay, fine. All of the possibilities she listed are indeed possible, but I don't see why she couldn't just be some delusional human from the mainland. She's starting to sound like Sticks too."

Sonic hummed, "But she isn't Sticks. If she was I probably wouldn't be giving her crazy ideas so much thought." Sonic stepped over to Tails, giving a brief glance at his latest invention out of curiosity before re-focusing on his friend. "And have you forgotten that she came from a giant hole in the sky? It doesn't hurt to just look into it."

"Fine. I'll run some tests later, but the data could take time to analyse." Tails set down his blow torch and removed his welding mask. "While I do that I'll also have a look and see if she's really okay. She never seems steady on her feet."

Sonic patted Tails on the back, then gave him a thumbs-up before zooming out of the workshop. Tails smiled, then headed over to his laptop and began preparing his tests.

The next day, the gang was gathered in Tails' living room. His laptop and analytical device were sat on the table. Tails looked at Gwen, who fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. Anxious thoughts raced through her mind.

"Okay, first thing's first. You're completely fine! Sort of." Tails announced, happy he finally got to run a health check. "There are... oddities, but nothing impeding your health."

Gwen sighed slightly, "I knew that already." She grumbled. Though, inwardly, she was rather relieved to be told she was fine, since she did not really know. Tails looked around the gang.

"It turns out that Gwen isn't from anywhere on our planet that we know of. The chemical signatures found in her composition aren't related to any location on our planet."

"I knew the aliens were coming!" Sticks yelled as she got up. "They're also shapeshifters! She probably isn't human!"

Gwen grumbled and sank into the cushions. "Does the crazy one_ have_ to be here?"

"I'm not crazy!" Sticks rushed over and grabbed Gwen, yanking her up. She pulled back her right arm's sleeve to reveal a metal arm. "And she's a robot too! I knew it! No handshake from a person is ever so stiff!" The badger shuddered. "And mechanically cold."

Some members of the gang looked a little weary.

"Well that explains why your hand was so cold." Sonic hummed.

Tails shook his head, pulling Sticks off Gwen. "She's not a robot. Her arm and legs and completely robotic, but we don't know why. For all we know, they're prosthetics."

"Prosthetics are a scheme by the big corporate companies to make more money!" Sticks snapped. "She's probably an alien that's working with Eggman! A spy!"

Gwen grumbled even more. "They're not prosthetics. And while I regretfully actually somewhat agree with you about big corporations, I would not work with Robo-... 'Eggman' if my life depended on it." She folded her arms. "He made me like this."

"Made you?" Tails looked over, suddenly looking more distrusting.

"I knew it!" Sticks pointed at Gwen victoriously.

Gwen waved her arms, standing to defend herself. "Not like that!" She took a breath to explain some more, but then just sighed. "Look, this was done to me forcefully. Not willingly. He didn't create me. That's why I'm so... unsteady. This isn't natural. I'm learning to do things again." She scratched behind her head. "I don't really want to go into more detail than that. It's still a sore topic." She frowned and glared at Sticks, "So leave me alone." Gwen stepped forward, face-to-face with Sticks. "And don't you dare keep pushing me in the future."

Sticks growled, but folded her arms and leant back slightly. "I have my eye on you."

Amy got up and pulled Sticks back to her seat as Gwen sat back down. A tense silence crossed the room.

"Eggman's never... done anything like that before." Sonic commented, setting his feet on the table. "He's never been any real danger. Well, not since we came to this island at least."

"Yeah, well." Gwen began to growl, but took a breath to calm down. She reminded herself that these people were just helping and that she had nothing to blame them for. "He was anything but harmless to my world." She gritted her teeth. "And I'd kill the fucker if I could."

Sonic jumped up, "Woah, woah! Calm there. We don't do that whole 'killing' thing. Eggman plots a scheme and we stop it with no one harmed! Except maybe the 'bots."

"He deserves to die." Gwen hissed, looking up at him. "You don't understand what he did to my world. To the life people had – how many lives he's taken and destroyed!" She stood, voice raised to a yell. "He's a complete monster! I'm alive by the skin of my teeth. I'm lucky to be _here_ – in a weird place with weird talking animals! He's taken enough from everyone and from me to be as good as dead! There's no redemption for the kind of evil he committed – none! There no fucking defence you can give that motherfucker that can take away what the fuck he did!" She panted, clenching her fists.

After a moment staring intensely at Sonic, she broke gaze with him and looked across the others. Her heart dropped at the shocked look they were giving her. Clearly, that was not the sort of thing they were used to seeing or hearing. Gwen's eyes skittered over them until she looked at the ground. She straightened and held her robotic arm.

"I uh... think I'll pass this meeting. Tails can..." She rubbed her arm, "Report without my presence." She took slow heavy steps to the door as everyone watched. It felt like the most shameful walk she had made in her life. After she closed the door, she sighed. _What a mess... It's not their fault they don't understand yet. God, I'm an ass._ Gwen headed off down the slope and towards the village.

Back inside, it took a few more moments for the group to break the silence.

"Huh, wow. Who knew Eggman could rile someone up like that?" Knuckles chuckled, oblivious to the atmosphere.

Sonic stared at the door, then looked back at the group. "Well, that definitely wasn't a joke. It seems like Eggman really crossed the line."

"And what do we do if that outburst was all true?" Amy asked. "I could never imagine Eggman being so... evil."

Sonic looked back at the group, "Well, we can't kill him and we can't let Gwen kill him either. We'll have to capture him. Or, at the very least, demand information."

Tails let his tails swish behind him as he looked at his laptop. "Well. We best not think too harshly of her. If Eggman really did do something so bad, she's probably suffering some trauma. She doesn't seem like a bad person and she might never have outbursts like that outside of this sort of context. Irritability is an easy trait to get when you've been through a lot." The group made a quiet hum of understanding. "Anyway, while I was analysing the data, I did find something to suggest that dimensional travel is the cause of her being here..."

Gwen wandered the village. She winced when her metal feet clanked against a stone. A terrible reminder of her bodily state. She lowered her foot carefully and looked over the village. The place was quaint. It was also nicer than any village she had ever lived in - there were more shops than she would have expected and people were out and about, giving the place some life. A small stream ran through the settlement that added to the modest beauty of the village. "If only all villages were so idyllic." She mused.

Gwen stopped to stare at an outdoor seating area. Looking at the sign hovering above it, Gwen read: 'Meh burger'. She scrunched her nose up. _So, this is where Sonic got those awful chilli dogs._ She waddled over and entered in through a shoddy wooden archway. She patted her pockets and whined when she remembered she had no money. The food here was awful anyway. She huffed and sat at one of the benches.

It was not long before a blue buck-tooth teen approached, "If you aren't going to buy anything you need to leeeave." He droned. "Paying suckers only." He pointed out the arch.

Gwen frowned. _Very welcoming place_. She got up and left without a hassle, however. She sat down against the outside of the fence instead, folding her arms. Things did not seem to be going her way. She grumbled until the sound of laughter reached her ears. She sat up straighter and looked down the street. Running down the street were two young girls, one pink and the other purple. Gwen stood up. She watched them pass by. Their laughter put a small smile on her face. It had been some time since she had seen children play freely. It was a good sound.

"Uh! Hey, wait!" She called to them, walking after them with long, weighty strides.

The two girls stopped and looked back. They seemed a little confused, but waved nonetheless.

"Can we help you, Miss?" The purple one asked, her ears tilting up. She appeared to be some kind of deer.

"No, no! Uh... I was wondering if ... I- if I could play too?" Gwen began to flush with embarrassment as she realised how strange she must have seemed.

The girls shared a bewildered look.

"But adults don't play tag, I betcha!" The pink one said. Gwen could not work out what animal that one was supposed to resemble.

"They... do now? Well, actually, I aren't very fast. But I think I can make a game that we can play. It'll be more fun than just tag. Or do you call it tig? Never did resolve the tag-tig debate on the playground."

The girls just nodded, ever so trusting. Gwen smiled and while she did not have any bad intent, she did idly wonder if the girls should have let her play. She took it as a sign that the village as a whole was generally rather trusting.

Sonic and the gang strolled into town, heading to Meh burger after their group meeting. They were surprised that Gwen was right – she was from some other place. Some other dimension somewhat similar to theirs but also different. Amy stayed at the back of the group, trying to convince Sticks to take Gwen seriously as a friend and not as an enemy.

Sonic's ears twitched when a voice that sound suspiciously like Gwen's reached his ears. He stopped and glanced over to the opposite side of the street where Gwen was – marching around with her hands in the air. Beth the Shrew and Reindeer girl running away from her.

"Rawr! Nobody can defeat to monster of the village!" Gwen announced, waving her arms to show how ferocious she was.

Sonic watched the scene before snickering quietly. He nudged Tails and pointed over at the girls.

Beth squeaked, "We're doomed, I betcha!" She looked at Reindeer girl.

"Not if we work together we're not!" She reached to Beth. "Are you with me?" Beth eyed her hand before she took it with a determined nod. The two girls slid to a halt. Gwen slowly caught up, giving another 'terrifying' roar. "Now!" Reindeer girl pointed at Gwen and the two girls tackled her.

Gwen's face flashed with worry as her arms flailed to keep her up, her heavy legs almost kept her up until she toppled over with the two girls on top of her. The two girls stood, first getting off before high-fiving each other. Gwen groaned slightly, but smiled at the girls until she heard a number of footsteps approach, and one pair of clapping hands. She looked into the street to see Sonic approaching with the gang, sonic giving a slow applause. Gwen felt her face heat up. She quickly got up and dusted herself off until she felt a tug on her hand. It was Beth pulling on her fingers.

"Let's play again sometime, Miss. You're really good at it, I betcha!" Beth smiled, then took Reindeer Girl's hand and they ran off together.

Gwen watched them go, then looked back at the gang as they stopped in front of her. "Ha... wassup?" She set her hands on her hips, trying to play off the scene with the kids, but her face betrayed her embarrassment.

"Never took you for the kid-loving type." Sonic glanced at the girls running off, then smirked at Gwen.

"Aheh... well, it's... just nice to see them play. I used to play with my niece all the time. It's been a while now." She looked back after the kids as she spoke with an edge of solemness. She scratched her cheek, "Though my niece was much younger. And... way more self-centred." She chuckled. "Still cute though!"

"Hm." Sonic hummed. "Anyway, come on! We're going to Meh burger for lunch."

"Ahah... right. Just the place I wanted to be." Gwen murmured sarcastically. She then joined the group as they headed over to the fast food joint. She was relieved they did not seem to hold any grudge for her outburst.


	7. Chapter 7

Over lunch, Tails filled Gwen in about the group's plans. After hearing what she had to say, they decided that they were going to confront and capture Eggman. They hoped that in doing that, they could gain more information on his side of the story, as well as find the dimensional travel device.

"So, you guys are just going to... waltz into his base?" She asked, taking a bite of her double cheese burger. It was more bearable than the chilli dog.

"Of course. We do it all the time." Sonic smirked at Gwen as he sat down from retrieving another order. He was onto his third chilli dog. "We practically have his defences and base memorised by now."

"Wow. Okay. Sounds like you have... everything planned out." Gwen mused, lowering her burger.

Sonic nodded, shoving the whole chilli dog into his mouth. Gwen grimaced. _Gross, but impressive._

"You wanna come?" Sonic added, licking his fingers.

"Sonic! We can't bring Gwen." Amy shook her head in disbelief. "She's closer to an ordinary citizen than a hero!"

"I don't see it that way. I don't know what went down on her end, but it's been sounding like she ended up here by fighting Eggman." He leant one arm on the table and the other over the back of the chair. "Besides, if we can't get information out of Eggman, Gwen might be able to identify the dimensional travel device amongst all his junk."

Amy folded her arms. "She can't walk properly. How do you expect her to fight?"

Gwen frowned and stood, "Hey, hey, No! I can walk now! And sort of jog and jump!" She held her chin. "Actually, when I say it out loud that doesn't make me sound quite as able as I wanted it to."

Tails looked between the hedgehogs. "Well, maybe Gwen can't fight, but Sonic has a point about identifying the machine. She can just hang back."

There was a murmur of agreement from the group.

However, Knuckles abruptly hugged Gwen. "That means I have a fan! You're coming along just to watch me fight."

"W-wait. What?" Gwen squeezed out as Knuckles bear-hugged her.

Knuckles wiped a tear from his eye. "I name you Knuckles Junior."

Gwen grimaced. "Thanks. I don't understand how you managed to connect naming someone to them being a fan. Or how you connected me tagging along as me being a fan at all... But, really. Thanks." She huffed, her voice getting higher with the decreasing supply of oxygen in her lungs. "Please let go." She whispered.

"Oh." Knuckles dropped Gwen. "Sorry."

Later, the group arrived at Eggman's base. They all huddled behind a rock, only Sonic peeking out to look at the entrance. He slinked back behind the rock, looking at the group.

"Just a couple bots, nothing we can't handle. Ready team?" Everyone nodded. "Go!" He commanded, and darted out. He was quickly followed by everyone except for Gwen, who climbed up on the rock and watched.

Amy smashed a motobug, while Knuckles launched Sonic into a beebot - who then proceeds to homing attack more beebots. Sticks gave a feral war cry and leapt onto a mantis bot, ripping off its head. Tails twisted his belt, forming a yellow energy whip. He lashed it, wrapping it around a scorpion-bot, which he threw into the door. It took no time at all for them to clear the small group of robot guards. Sonic stood in front of the door.

"Come on out, Egghead. You can't hide any longer!"

The doors opened up. Eggman hovered out, settled inside of his eggmobile. "Ah! Sonic! What a surprise." He mused, leaning over the windscreen. "I was wondering when you would show up."

Gwen slid off her rock and came over, glaring daggers at Eggman. She considered outright attacking him, but she figured there was no way for her to reach him.

"Oh, and you." He frowned. "Funny that you would show up. I figured you would go nuts and run off into the wilderness, never to be seen again."

Gwen just grunted. She had nothing to say to the doctor. Every word he spoke just made her angrier about his presence.

Sonic looked at Gwen. Deciding that she was not going to do something rash, he set his wrists on his hips and looked up at Eggman. "Eggface, we're here to capture you." He announced.

Gwen glanced over. "Why would you tell him that?"

Sonic looked at her, then his expression morphed into confused. "Why? Well, uh... It's only fair we announce out plans to the bad guy."

Gwen slowly nodded, giving Sonic a look that said: 'I don't believe you'.

Eggman laughed, "Capture me? But, oh! How you are so very wrong Sonic! It is I that will capture you!" He yelled, pulling out a gun and firing at Sonic. Though the blue blur went to move, the sparking fragments of a scorpion-bot managed to latch onto his leg.

Despite knowing of Sonic's agility, and having acted before actually noticing Sonic's predicament, Gwen leapt and shoved Sonic out the way once the gun was fired, only to be hit by the blast. Sonic reached back as he stumbled away from the force of the shove.

"No!" He cried, his ears pinning back. His face dropped. He couldn't have let Gwen get harmed. She couldn't even fight! He was the hero! It was _his _job to keep her out of harm's way,not the other way around! The rest of the gang looked towards the smoky cloud caused by the blast. There was a tension between them.

When the smoke cleared, a fish was half-heartedly flopping on the ground with one metal fin and a metal tail. Everyone froze at the sight.

"Well, that wasn't the right target." Eggman mumbled.

Tails yelped, "Sonic get the gun, get the gun! If that thing changed Gwen into a fish we need it to change her back – or at least change her to something that can breathe air!"

Sonic gritted his teeth and look at Knuckles. They shared a look of acknowledgement. Sonic leapt over to Knuckles, who grabbed the hedgehog and threw him at Eggman. Sonic smacked into the machine but grabbed the side. The force of the impact sent the Eggmobile into the base's wall as Sonic climbed in.

"Ah! No! Don't hurt me!" Eggman screamed. "Here, take it, take it!" he threw the gun to Sonic, who looked at the settings as Eggman leapt from his ride and ran into his base.

"There's no 'human' on this thing-" Sonic nervously announced as he inspected a dial on the gun. Animal silhouettes were drawn on to the dial.

Tails waved his arms, ushering Sonic to act. "Anything! Just something that breathes air!"

Sonic changed the dial and leapt out the Eggmobile, shooting the fish. When the smoke cleared, the fish had turned into a Mobian Sheep.

Gwen looked at herself, then set her hooves on her hips, frowning at Sonic.

"Baaa-rilliant." She remarked in a snarky manner. Sonic took that as a hint to try again, so he changed the dial and shot her again.

She popped into being a mouse, then an Echidna. Sonic grimaced, noting how Gwen looked very similar to Knuckles. Knuckles, on the other hand, jumped for joy.

"I'm not the last of my race!" He cheered.

Gwen quickly motioned for Sonic to keep going. The hedgehog shrugged, flicked the dial, and continued shooting. Gwen then morphed into Amy, then into Sticks, then into a female Tails, then into a rabbit and finally into a female, familiar-looking, blue hedgehog. Gwen looked at herself. She groaned and shook her head. _First a female Knuckles, then everyone else too._ _What is that gun supposed to be?_

"Ehh, I kind of like this one." Sonic smirked, shrugging with the gun in hand. "This one has flare."

"You only like it because I look like a very familiar pincushion!" Gwen's quills bristled.

"Oh, come on, I've been through all the settings!" Sonic huffed. "I can only turn the dial so many times. Want to be a fish again?"

"No..." Gwen folded her arms, but hissed as the bagginess of her clothes started to irritate her. "Turn me back into the one with long ears. I think it's rabbit. Maybe a hare? Anyway, that was more bearable than being the walking butt of your joke."

Sonic rolled his eyes and sighed in disappointment as he flicked the dial then shot her one last time. Knuckles whined in disappointment.

Gwen popped back into being a bunny with dark grey fur and pure white accents. One ear flopped down over her face. She growled, lifting it with her hand. Her one organic arm had a white sock. She sighed, but just quickly told herself to move on. It was better than being a twin to one of her gang of saviours.

Sonic flipped the gun around as he scanned over her new form. He thought that being a female version of him was the best one. Clearly, Gwen had no taste for being cool.

The group made their way into the base. Gwen focused on keeping steady and pulling her jeans up. The group gave her some odd looks but did not question her. Eventually, they came to the control room, where Eggman was cowering. Sonic groaned as he walked to the table he was under and leant down.

"Boo." He said, looking and sounding bored.

Eggman screamed and jolted, banging his head on the table. He whined and held his head, crawling out.

"Ugh, fine, you caught me." Eggman hissed. "What do you want?"

Sonic gestured to Gwen. "To send her back home." He looked back at her. She arched her brows. He looked back at Eggman. "And turn her back human."

"No and no." Eggman sat back on his table. "The dimensional transport device is broken. Completely broken. When the one in her universe blew, it must have synchronised with the one here and blown them both. On top of that, I don't have schematics for it. I had to reboot my systems after they got a virus and the last backup didn't have it saved."

Amy stepped forward. "Okay, that explains the device but why can't you turn her human?"

"Because!" Eggman shouted, "It takes a lot of time to make gene maps for the gun to read. And even if I did, she'd be a different human – I can't replicate how she was without her existing in the form she wanted. All of her old DNA is gone, completely replaced and reworked by the morph gun. So actually, I can turn her human, just not the human she wants to be. Plus, it's a tedious and boring to do."

Gwen growled and leapt at Eggman, launching herself harder and further than she wanted to. She barrelled into him. She both crashed off on the table, sliding into the wall. She reared her metal fist back, punching him across the face. When she reared it back again, however, she felt a number of hands wrap around herself and pull her off.

"Woah! Woah! Calm." Sonic sighed. "We don't do things that way."

Gwen whipped her back to look at Sonic. Her look slowly softened, and both her ears flopped down. "S-... sorry." She mumbled. The hands held her a moment longer, but satisfied by her apology and lack of resistance, they released her. Gwen relaxed her stance, feeling more guilty than willing to continue her quest to harm him.

"Talk about anger management issues." Eggman grunted, getting up. He held his cheek, wincing in pain. "You need to keep a leash on that rodent."

Gwen folded her arms with a grumble. "Just because I'm a rabbit doesn't mean I'm a rodent..." She glanced around as the others looked at her. "Well... I am, but it's not the point I was making."

Tails rubbed his chin, "if there's no machine and no schematics, we'd have to build the machine again from scratch. Even then, the dimension and place Gwen belongs to will have some really specific coordinates."

"Oh, please. Don't tell me you actually want to help the brat?" Eggman grumbled when a number of glares were shot his way. "All goody two-shoes hero types. Geez."

"So maybe we should do the whole turning-human thing again first." Sonic suggested, leaning his hips out to one side.

"No." Gwen grumbled.

"Ye- wait, what? No?" Sonic looked over at her. "Why not?"

"I've had enough body-changing for a while, Sonic. When I'm to go back to my world, obviously I'll need to change to being some sort of human, but now? No. God, no. I've been roboticized then transformed into a rabbit within the span of one day. First I can barely walk, I learn to do that and now I completely launch myself when I want to jump. Now I have to learn to do a new thing. Fuck my life and fuck changing forms."

Sonic stared at her for a moment before he shrugged. "Fine, have it your way. Just don't eat all the carrots in the village."

Gwen snorted. "You make terrible jokes, you know that?" She shook her head, though a slight smile crept on to her face as Sonic shot her a prideful smirk.

Amy lifted her hammer over her shoulder. "Then we still need to rebuild the dimension device and create a human map for the morph gun. Tails, you best gather what information you can from Eggman while we're here."

Tails nodded and went over to the doctor, sparking up a conversation with him about the dimension machine.

Sonic folded his arms. "In the meantime, who's up for soccer?" He grinned, as the gang – all but Tails – cheered.

Gwen sighed. Why was everything that Sonic liked so bad? "Fine, football it is."

Knuckles gasped. "football! That sounds great! I wonder what it is..."

Amy glanced at him. "She's on about Soccer, Knuckles."

"Oh! Why didn't you say so? And what's with the weird name?" He looked confused.

Gwen didn't look all too amused. "Soccer? Football? Name thing. Soccer? No sense. Football? Foot-ball? Because you kick a ball with you foot? Eh? Make sense now?"

Knuckles frowned. "Sounds complicated. Can you repeat the rules again?"

Everyone groaned. As they all turned to leave, Gwen glanced back at Eggman. Her nagging guilt grew somewhat as she began to let it sink in that this person was most definitely not the same one that terrorised her world. Despite that, she continued to follow the gang without offering an apology.


	8. Chapter 8

After their time at the lab, the group – except for Tails - left for the beach. Amy loaned Gwen some better-fitting clothes – though it was a pink dress and black boots. Gwen approved of the boots and their practicality, and disapproved of the dress, though she did not dare to complain. She was not about to refuse a friendly offering. Immediately after getting changed, Amy had offered to do Gwen's makeup, an offer which Gwen quickly declined and diverted away from by saying they would be late to the game.

Gwen huffed and hunched over, exhausted as Sonic scored yet another goal.

"Woo! Yeah, alright!" He cheered as he leapt in the air, then shuffled along in a small victory dance. "And the Blue Blur scored again."

Gwen took a deep breath and straightened. Everyone was pretty good at this game, aside from her. They did not seem to mind though, they were just having fun playing. _Maybe football isn't as bad as I thought it was. It's not so bad when people don't kick the ball into your face. _She thought, just before the football hit her in the face. She yelped and tumbled over, covering her face. "I regret my horribly coincidental thoughts." She whined and curled up as she heard Sticks yell a 'sorry' over her way.

"Want a hand up?" Sonic asked, offering Gwen some assistance.

Gwen glanced through her fingers at the hedgehog, then removed her hands from her face and took Sonic's. He helped her up, though she did most of the work, and smiled. "Next time, try dodging or hitting the ball when it's flying at you."

"Heh." Gwen set her hand behind her head. "Yeah."

When Sonic turned away, Gwen found herself staring at his back for a few moments before she snapped herself out of it._ I shouldn't stare like that! It's rude... and weird. And I don't want to be answering questions if anyone sees me. _She pressed her fingers to her chin. _Actually, I should probably take some time to get to know this body and pin down some sort of fighting style. If they take me on adventures with them, I need to be helpful. I can't sit by and watch like before... much less, be totally useless. I wasn't even needed to get the device, Robo- Eggman was cooperative. Man, it feels bad to be more useless to the heroes than the villain._

"Earth to Gwen, Earth to Gwen – _krrr!_ – do you copy?" Sonic droned as he waved his hand in front of her eyes. Gwen blinked and leant back slightly, her eyes following his hand before looking at him. "Don't you know it's rude to stare?" He smirked.

Gwen frowned, her face heating up. "I wasn't staring! I zoned out! Completely different. Besides, I wasn't even thinking about anything... here." She puffed out her cheeks slightly and gestured over Sonic's body. She looked away, briefly catching a glimpse of Amy glaring at her.

Sonic leant forward slightly, folding his arms and eyeing Gwen in a playful manner. "'Course not." He took her shoulder and twisted her to face him, much to her surprise. "Now get your head back in the game." He chuckled, zipping back to his striker position.

Gwen walked herself back to defence, inwardly groaning. _Oh, sweet life. Why do you hate me? _

"Agh! I'm bored now." Sonic whined, sitting himself on the sand. The group had played many rounds of soccer and volleyball, with people simply rotating being on Sonic's team. Sonic won almost every round, and when he did not win he demanded a rematch.

"Well we can't just go." Amy said. "We need to wait for Tails."

"Ahh!" Sticks screamed. "What if he was kidnapped by robots?!" She whipped out her arms, looking around. "They could be anywhere!"

"Sticks," Gwen narrowed her eyes, "I'm pretty sure he's just busy getting the details he needs."

"But why couldn't he get them faster?" Sonic groaned, falling off his rock and on to the sand. He let himself lie on the sand, making no attempt to get up. "I can't wait anymore."

"Hey guys!" Tails waved as he approached. Sonic lifted his head and perked his ears up. He bolted over.

"Thank Chaos!" Sonic shook Tails. Then, he hugged the fox close and folded his ears back. "I've been waiting all day!"

"Okay, okay." Tails gently unlatched Sonic finger-by-finger, then pushed his arms away. "I've got all the information we need. Well, aside from schematics. But basic information, yes. It's going to take a while to piece together everything though. It looks like Gwen's going to be staying with us for however long it takes to build the machine."

Gwen came over. "That's fine with me." She chuckled, "I get to spend my time on a beautiful tropical island getaway and make new friends - I can't complain about that. Might've been rough waves getting here, and rough waves being here at times... but I'd be lying if I said this wasn't the best holiday I've been on in my life."

"Huh." Sonic smirked. "I guess that makes you the sixth official member of Team Sonic." Everyone around him aside from Gwen glared his way. "I-I mean... the sixth official member of Team sonic and friends! Heh."

"Really?" Gwen let her jaw slacken slightly, then shook her head. "But why? I can't fly, nor do I have a weapon or have super strength or run fast or..." Gwen looks at Sticks. "Have... survival skills?" She looked back at Sonic. "I don't have the special skills you all have that... make you heroes."

"Pfft," Sonic waved his hand dismissively, "Like you need any of that to be a hero. You were willing to put your life in danger for mine, when you don't even know me all that well. I'd say that's the hero in you." He lightly punched her arm. "As long as you don't blow your top at Eggman again, you'll fit right in!"

Gwen took a second, but once his words registered a smile crept onto her face. She nodded. "R-right!"

"Sonic!" Amy scolded. He groaned. "You know you're not supposed to make decisions without the team!"

Sonic glanced at her. "What? You don't agree? You were standing there the whole time while I talked, too. Amy, she threw herself in front of a gun for me and I bet she'd do it for others. Of course, she can't be the number one hero on this island, that spot is taken, but she could maybe climb to number two with enough hard work and dedication."

Amy folded her arms. "Sonic T. Hedgehog," she marched beside Gwen, gesturing to her. "This poor soul has gone through the most miserable time and you want to make her fight?"

Gwen raised a hand as if she were in class. Amy looked at her, allowing her time to talk.

"Do I get a say in this?" Gwen asked, lowering her arm. After Amy gave her a nod to continue, Gwen put her own thoughts forward. "Unless there's more complaints about it than just what I've done getting here, then I don't see why I shouldn't join. I mean, you could complain that I could get in the way, that I'm inexperienced, that I'm slow... but you're thinking of my feelings?" Gwen cleared her throat. "Sorry, that sounded a bit harsh. Came out a little wrong. A-anyway, I don't have a great connection with my emotions most of the time. Things tend to blow by me pretty easy... of course, depends on what it is, but that's besides the point. I think that as long as I can keep up, being part of the team would actually be great for me while I'm here. It'll give me something to do. To occupy myself, you know? Like, I mean, when people do nothing, all you end up doing is sitting and moping around and you end up letting everything go straight to your head."

Amy looked rather displeased, but she sighed and relented. "Fine. If you want to come along, then that's that. But you're coming with me."

"Uh? Why?" Gwen took a slight step back, a little intimidated by the statement and tone.

"So that we can go shopping!" Amy squealed.

Gwen inhaled deeply and plastered a grin onto her face. "Oh. That's... that's great Amy! Really great!" Gwen held her hands out in front of herself. "But I think..." She took a step back. "That I need to..." She took another step back. "Explore the nearby area a little bit more. Okay? Thanks! Bye!" She turned and ran. Halfway down the beach she tripped, but scrambled back up and continued to run.

"Ah, you scared her off, Ames." Sonic snorted. "You'll have to catch her another time."

Amy set her hands on her hips, "Why I never!" She fumed. "It's not like I was going to make her go this late in the day!"

Sonic arched a brow at her. He was rather happy that Amy had some other victim to focus on other than himself. He looked at Tails. "You best fix up another communicator. We can't have someone disconnected from the group."

Tails nodded. "I'll be right on it!" Tails declared, "After I get home and get some rest."

Sonic hummed, then nodded. "Go on, we're right behind you buddy."

Tails nodded and began heading back. Knuckles immediately followed, practically glued to Tails' back. Tails stopped, looking back at him.

Sonic stepped over and nudged Knuckles. "But not _literally_. That would be _weird_."

"Ohh!" Knuckles nodded. "I get it now."

Tails rolled his eyes and continued home, though rather than backing off, Knuckles grabbed Sonic and Amy and continued to follow like he was stuck to Tails.

The group collectively groaned.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day, as the sun rose over the rippling sea, Gwen sat on the beach, staring across the ocean. _The Sunrise is beautiful. _She thought, watching as the sky gradually grow lighter. She smiled slightly and leant back on the sand. Maybe things were bad before, but they were starting to look up quickly. And, being in a totally different world, Gwen felt free of all the negative thoughts she had attached to her old home. She closed her eyes, and drifted into sleep on the pale sandy beach of Bygone Island.

The light sound of footsteps over sand woke Gwen. She stretched and yawned, wanting to curse her now rather acute hearing for ruining her peaceful slumber. She grumbled slightly as she rubbed her eyes before opening them to see a familiar blue face staring down at her.

"I didn't know you were one to camp out." Sonic said, before sitting himself down beside her. He rested his hand behind himself to support his weight. "It's pretty early."

"Didn't sleep." Gwen offered as an explanation. "Came out to see the sunrise."

"Sunrise is pretty early." Sonic chuckled. "Too early. I'd rather sleep in."

"So why are you out?" Gwen turned her head to him, folding her hands over her stomach.

"I saw you out here when I got up to grab a snack. Thought I best check to see if you were alright. It's a weird thing, to see someone sleeping on the beach... outside my shack."

Gwen chuckled. "Yeah... well, I guess it's good to know you care."

"I- I never said that, exactly." Sonic stuttered out.

Gwen arched a brow and looked at him. She frowned. "Right. So, you don't care?"

Sonic folded his ears back, sitting up straight. "No! I mean- that's not what I-" He stopped as Gwen laughed and shoved him gently. He relaxed and leant back once again.

"I know you don't mean it like that." Gwen settled her chuckle and looked out at the ocean.

They both stared out to the sea, admiring the beauty of the glimmering waters that frothed ever so slightly as small waves rolled up the sand. Though, of course, Sonic kept a good distance between him and the water at all times.

Half an hour later, Sonic and Gwen met up with the rest of the gang in the village.

"Gwen! So, you've been with Sonic? Phew. I was worried when I got up and you weren't at the house." Tails cried as he ran over. "You really should've left a note!"

"Ah, sorry. I didn't plan on staying out so long." Both of Gwen's ears flopped down. "I must've been more tired than I thought."

Tails shook his head slightly, "No worries. Anyway, this is for you!" He said, holding out a communicator. "You need to have one if you're going to be part of the team!"

Gwen's ears perks back up as she took the device, attaching it to her wrist with a curious expression. She smiled. "Right! Thanks."

Sonic tapped his foot as he gazed around the village. "Well, what do we want to do?" He asked, seeing no impending Eggman attack.

"Oo! Oo! Me! I know this one!" Knuckles insisted, waving his arms about like a lunatic.

"This isn't a quiz, Knuckles." Amy pointed out. He took no notice.

Sonic put on a presenter voice as he pretended to hold a microphone to his mouth and pointed at Knuckles. "Okay, the question goes to the big, red beefcake in the back row." Everyone turned to look at Knuckles as he tried to remember his answer. "Time is ticking, Knucks."

Knuckles clenched his fists in panic.

"Uh, B!"

Everyone groaned.

"How do you manage to survive..." Gwen mumbled.

"I don't." Knuckles announced, seeming rather proud. Gwen groaned, frustrated. She set her fingers to her temples, gently massaging them in an attempt to relieve the frustration.

"Well, since no one has an answer," Sonic lifted a finger into the air, "I suggest a race!"

"Oh!" Tails jumped in a moment of excitement. "I'll get the hoverboards!" He turned and ran off towards his workshop.

"Hoverboards?" Gwen set her hands on her hips, looking at the gang. "You guys have hoverboards? Man, that's so cool. Now you're making my home seem way too boring."

Sticks slinked over, leaning over to whisper in Gwen's ear. "Don't get your hopes up. They're part of the government's plan to track us all!"

"Sticks, if they want to do that they probably can already. So, if they could they probably are. Therefore, you're already being tracked." Sticks screamed and jolted up as her fur bristled. She pulled out a tin foil hat. "And that's for mind control."

"No!" She hissed, putting on the hat. "It blocks tracking waves too!"

Amy removed the hat from Sticks' head, giving Gwen a glare. "Don't encourage her!" She rested a hand on the badger's shoulder with a sigh, "Besides, Tails made the boards. They're safe."

"I refuse to be part of your evil schemes!" Sticks crouched low and looked around, "I've got my eyes on you all!" She turned and bolted off into the tree line.

When Tails returned with the boards, he handed one to everyone.

"Maybe you should try it first, Gwen. You know, to get used to it before we race."

"Hm." Gwen looked at the board in her hands. She set it down and Tails approached, turning it on. Purple lights flashed up all over the board as it gently rose from the ground. "Wow, it really does hover..." She mused, poking cautiously at it with her foot. It wobbled at the slightest movement. She grimaced. "This seems like it'd take some pretty precise control..." She mumbled, stepping up. The board slowly drifted to the left with the lean of her body. Gwen tried to correct it, but only ended up wobbling on the board as it rapidly swung the other way. She flailed her arms, keeping her feet firmly planted down. "Sensitive much?" She cried, a jolt of fear running through her as she imagined being throw off as if the hoverboard were a rodeo.

Sonic stepped over and gripped the board, stopping it from wobbling. He looked up at her with a smirk. "Don't tell me you're scared of it?"

"N-no!" Gwen glanced away. "I wouldn't be scared of something that could potentially throw me off and cause me a dangerous fall that could possibly kill me." Her brows furrowed upwards and she folded her arms, beginning to sound more unsure. "Nope..."

"You'll be fine." Tails reassured her, stepping up onto his own board. "Just lean the way you want it to go! The more you lean, the faster it'll get." Tails demonstrated his point by leaning forwards to make the board move forward, then leaning right – making the board perform slow but steady turn.

Gwen nodded, showing she had heard the instructions. She cautiously leant forward, letting the board drift in that direction. The group all got on their boards and came up beside her.

"You'll have it down in no time." Sonic gave Gwen a slap on the back, sending her reeling forward. She yelped at the suddenly burst of speed. The hedgehog laughed, "That's the spirit!" He leant forward himself and zoomed past – disappearing into the treeline. He was immediately followed by Tails and Knuckles.

Amy hovered up beside Gwen as the rabbit caught her breath. "Don't worry, I'll stick with you to the race and if you fall too far behind, I'll hang back, okay?" Amy smiled.

Gwen looks at her. A feeling of relief ran through her whole body. "Yes! Yes, please. Thank you, Amy. You're a God-send."

Amy gave a nod and offered Gwen her hand. Gwen gladly took it and Amy helped her follow the others.

Amy and Gwen eventually caught up, the lads were waiting impatiently at the starting point. Behind them was a twisting, turning maze of branches, though they resembled rails more than anything. Gwen gently bit the inside of her lip as she warded away the feeling of impending doom and told herself it would probably be fun._ You have to try things to know if you like them..._ She told herself. _But they sure do seem to be throwing me into the deep end. God, I wish I was less scared of things. How the hell I worked up the courage to become part of the resistance back home I don't know..._

"Aha! There you are. Took you long enough." Sonic looked around everyone. "Alright! Everyone ready?" A resounding 'Yeah!' sprung from the group, though Gwen only joined that collective outburst with a small, unsure voice. Sonic nodded, "Positions!" He commanded, drifting his board to the edge of a steep drop.

Gwen drifted her board up too, peering down the drop as her stomach contorted. Amy stuck beside her and offered an encouraging smile. Gwen smiled back as Sonic stuck his hand in the air, counting down with his fingers. "3, 2, 1... GO!" Sonic, Tails and Knuckles shot off like bullets. Gwen stayed and stared at the drop, but snapped out of her daze when a gloved hand was held out to her.  
"Come on, we'll start together." Amy offered.

Gwen took Amy's hand and nodded, both of them tipping off down the slope.

Gwen did not make a peep as she tipped off, her mouth was welded shut as the cautious drift towards the edge suddenly transformed into a burst of speed. The wind whipped her face as she went down, and her stomach lurched as she followed the curve off of the end of the drop. Amy laughed beside her, vocalizing her enjoyment – showing Gwen that it did not have to be a terrifying experience. Gwen looked over at the pink hedgehog, her face pale as they shot along the branches. Amy just smiled. Gwen swallowed as her fear began to sink away and, in its place, the exhilarating feeling of euphoria that came with adrenaline began to grow. Gwen slowly let go of Amy's hand, leaving behind a glove crinkled from her grip.

Gwen began to grin, cautiously letting herself taste the speed. She loved speed. She loved rollercoasters and slamming the pedal to the floor and diving through the air in a plane. Every speedy experience she had, she loved – even if worry did gnaw at the back of her mind. But this time?

Gwen laughed, leaning more forward.

This time was the best speed experience she'd had. Behind her, Amy encouraged Gwen. Amy was happy to see her turn around to fast. But, when Gwen began to get a little too far ahead, Amy shouted to wait but Gwen could not hear over the roar of the wind.

After a couple minutes, Gwen saw Sonic and Tails passing below her. _A further part of the race course! They must be miles ahead... _She curled her hands into fists as she considered her options. This was a race; there would be a winner. Her heart sped up in anticipation as she abruptly changed the angle of her board, flailing her arms to stay on.

Gwen heard Amy yelp behind her as she flew off the track. Gwen looked over at Amy and flashed her a quick thumbs-up to show she was okay and that the movement was not an accident, before plummeting down on the track below. Gwen let out a sigh of relief when she landed the board successfully, knees bending to take she shock from the impact. Her heart thumped in her ears. _Why the hell did I do that? I could've hurt myself. _She mentally scolded herself. _It did feel good though... _

She pressed forward, coming up beside Tails.

Tails looked determined, his eyes set on Sonic. However, he did not fail to notice another presence nearby. He glanced over at Gwen, his ears shooting up. "Gwen?!" He blurted out in surprise - she was the last person he expected to catch up. How and when had she done that? Everyone but him and Sonic were miles off the last he checked! And Knuckles had completely wiped out on the sharpest turn. Gwen shot Tails a cheeky grin.

Sonic glanced back at Tails and Gwen. He was somewhat impressed that she had gotten the hang of the hoverboard so fast. He smirked. He knew she could do it if she just tried. However, just because she was new and doing well did not mean he was going to give up his win. No. Sonic was still going to win.

Gwen competed with Tails to stay beside him. He was performing a lot of manoeuvres, that she could not, to stay in front. In no time, Tails had maneuvered in front of her, leapt on to and off of a tree and ended up in front of Sonic. Gwen stared in awe at the skill and confidence. Looking ahead on the track, she saw the final corner, then a black and white checkered marker. It looked like a goal. _Is that the finish line? When did they set that up?_ Gwen shook the distracting thought from her head, there was no time for that. This was the last stretch! She was not going to win, she was sure of that now, but as long as she concentrated and finished, she could be proud of herself.

When the corner began, Tails still in first and blocking Sonic's moves to pass him, Gwen leant to go with the track. Part way around the corner, the tip of her board hit a notch in the branch. Her face fell as the board flipped, flipping her with it! The momentum flung her across the track and into Sonic, sending them both reeling.

The pair hit branches in a nearby tree, breaking them. However, the branches stopped their forward momentum. They began to fall. Gwen crashed through the branches to the bottom, using her metal arm to defend herself until she hit the ground. She laid there for a moment before she groaned. She was scratched and bruised and disorientated and a little cut up, but her metal appendage had save her from having a much worse time. She pushed herself up and looked around, trying to find Sonic. She furrowed her brow when he was no around.

"Ahem." Sonic cleared his throat.

Gwen looked up, to see the blue blur well and truly tangled up in a number of jungle vines. She snickered, even if it hurt her chest a bit to do so. "Sorry."

Sonic groaned, looking thoroughly unamused. Sonic took a couple of moments to regain himself, before curling into a ball and spinning furiously. The vines tightened, then snapped. Sonic fell to the ground, landing on his feet. He gave a large and exaggerate bow, then he brushed himself off, removing a stay vine from his spikes. He stared down at Gwen, still on the ground, before he rolled his eyes and offered her a hand up.

"C'mon, Twinkle Toes. Please tell me you can get up even with those two left feet of yours." He looked at the finish line and groaned. Everyone was already there. Gwen took his hand and stood, with an apologetic look and nervous chuckle. "You cost me my win." He pointed out. While Sonic's tone indicated there was some degree of intended humour to the line, his eyes betrayed how seriously he took competition.

"Yeah... sorry?" Gwen poked her fingers together, then retrieved the two damaged hoverboards to distract her mind. Sonic grumbled and went to pick her up, wanting to zip over to the rest as fast as possible but his eyes widened slightly when he tried. A look of realization crossed his face as he acknowledged that if she was too heavy before, she was still too heavy now. He grumbled louder, hating to be beaten by Gwen's weight too. Instead, he got behind her and pushed her towards the gang.

All eyes were on Sonic and Gwen as they finally stepped over the finish line.

"Wow, Sonic, who knew you were only the fifth fastest creature on the planet?" Tails chuckled.

Sonic poked his head out from behind Gwen, appalled. His ears flattened. "Wait, what?" He stammered.

"You were the last to cross the finish line! Even Knuckles got all the way here and he fell off the track ages ago!" Sonic let his hands drop to his side as he looked at the finish line, at his position, then at Gwen in front of him.

"Hey! You can't blame me for that one." Gwen folded her arms, a small smile of amusement spreading across her lips. "You're the one that wanted to shove me here."

Knuckles laughed. "I beat Sonic! So, I am now the fastest thing on the planet."

"No, Knuckles. Tails won the race." Amy pointed out. "You would be the third fastest since I was second."

"Amy!" Knuckles whined. "You know I can't count that high... wait, but if I have the bigger number..." Knuckles balled up Tails' hand and slammed the fox's fist into his own open palm. "Then I get a bigger prize! What did I win?" He bounced up and down and Tails retrieved his hand, rubbing his wrist.

Gwen covered her face with her hands and rubbed her eyes and she groaned along with everyone else.

"You're all forgetting the important thing here." Sonic growled through his teeth. Gwen looked back at him, one ear flopped down in confusion. "A rematch!"


	10. Chapter 10

Sonic won the second race. Everyone hated admitting it, but he won. He was not quiet about his victory either. He spent the whole journey back bragging about his speed and style.

As the group made it back to the village, passing through the treeline, they dropped their boards. Robots were everywhere, terrorizing the villagers! Sticks was already at the scene, defending the villagers as best she could from the horde.

Gwen gritted her teeth, taking a small step back. The sight rocked something in her that sparked up fear.

Sonic looked over the group. "Let's go!" He ordered, and bolted off in the blink of an eye. The group of fast to follow, all the group but Gwen.

Gwen hung back. She paled as she stared at the enemy. Everyone was already smashing badniks. Everyone but her and-

"Are you coming?" Amy called, having stopped halfway to the battle. She watched as Gwen nervously scooted in place. Amy sighed. She knew putting another person on the team was a bad idea. Not that she did not like Gwen. Amy very much did like her, as long as she did not chase after Sonic. However, she was just so_ unprepared_. She clearly had not had a lot of fighting experience like the team. When Gwen did not move, Amy walked back to her. "Gwen, you're part of the team now."

Gwen looked away - embarrassed and ashamed.

"I don't mean that you have to fight." Amy clarified, Gwen looked up at her, confused. "I mean, we'll keep you safe. We're a team – that's what we do. We work together. So, come on and smash some bots!" Amy smiled and ran back off to battle.

Gwen watched her. A look of confidence crept on to her face. _Man, Amy is encouraging_. She thought. _I... I can do this! But surely I don't have the speed or agility to fight effectively..._ Gwen looked at her hoverboard. She smirked, realising the solution to her problems was right in front of her. She leapt on to the board and sped into battle.

The moment Gwen entered the danger zone, she found lasers and blades being thrown her way. She kept her metal arm in front of herself. Somehow, she was now beginning to appreciate being part robot.

While speeding past a mantis bot, it slashed down at her with its arm-blades. Gwen flung up her metal arm to defend herself. Sparkles flew as she passed by – metal grating on metal - then she grabbed the bot, ripping off one of the blades. She armed her squishy left arm with the weapon, then gripped the bot with her metal arm and slung it into a motobug.

Sonic smashed into a beebot, briefly uncurling as he recoiled to give Gwen a thumbs-up and a wink to let her know she was doing just fine.

Gwen laughed, returning a thumb-up. Her smile slipped when she realized how corny and outdated the gesture was, but she shrugged it off. That did not matter when nobody actually cared, so her grin resumed as she circled her next opponent.

In the meantime, Amy smashed a motobug to Knuckles with her hammer. Knuckles then crushed it into a ball and bowled down a line of crabmeats. He bashed his fists together.

"Strike!" He announced, then began chasing down the next nearest bot.

Sticks let out a war cry as she leapt onto a beebot. The beebot buzzed about, trying to fling the badger off, but Sticks clung to it like her life depended on it. She pulled out her boomerang, bashing the bot's head until it fell to the ground a sparking, twitching mess.

Tails hovered above, until he found the right moment to grab a scorpion bot by the tail and used its frantic blasts to shoot other bots on the field.

With the whole team bashing bots, the battle was over within just a couple minutes. The six heroes stood in the middle of the battlefield, piles of junk surrounding them as Eggman hovered in front of the carnage in his Eggmobile.

"Oh, phooey!" He slammed his hands into the control panel, causing the machine to wobble.

"It's over, Eggman." Sonic folded his arms. "Give up."

"But wait, why are you attacking us now? We're working together on the dimensional transport machine!" Tails frowned.

"Just because we work together in our spare time doesn't mean I'm going to pass up the opportunity to overthrow the village!" Eggman huffed. "Now prepare for your doom, Sonic!" He pointed an accusing finger at the Blue Blur. "You will now be destroyed... by Grapplebot!"

At the call to battle, a large claw smashed into the ground in front of the group. A large, yellow robot followed the arm as if it were being reeled in and landed with a crash. Instead of legs, it had treads and its box-like body was sprouting tens of mobile claw-arms that swayed like worms poking out of the ground. There was no discernible head to speak of. Gwen looked up at it, her mind momentarily going blank at the shock. She had never seen a bot quite so strange, nor did she expect one so large to move as fast as it did! She quickly moved when a second claw came crashing down where she was.

"What is this thing?!" She wailed, fleeing on her hoverboard as the claw pulled back from the ground and turned to chase her.

"I told you already!" Eggman snapped. "Are you deaf? It's Grapplebot!"

"Gaaah!" Gwen yelled as it grabbed her leg and retracted its arm, dragging her across the ground then dangling her upside down. "Let go! Let go!" She bashed her fist against it in a struggle to escape.

Amy looked at Sonic, ready to swing her hammer. "Sonic, we've got to get her down from there!" She demanded, her tone bossy.

"Anytime now would be great, guys!" Gwen yelled as she was pulled into the hole where the bot's arm came from. However, she gripped the side of the opening, fighting against the tug on her leg. Her metal fingers put dents in the coat of the bot with how hard she gripped.

Sonic glanced at the others, "Keep it occupied. Tails, find out how we can put this thing down for good!" With that command, he leapt up onto the arm of the bot that was aimed for him, running along it to the main body as other claws attempted to grab him, but only succeeded in tangling themselves up.

Amy, Knuckles and Sticks got to work smashing, ripping and taunting the arms while Tails twisted up his tails, then began flying around the bot, inspecting everywhere he could for signs of weakness.

Sonic leapt from the arm to the hole Gwen was gripping to. He gripped the side and pulled himself up with a grunt. He looked at Gwen, briefly considering his options. He would not be able to pull her out. He had it through his skull now that she was just too heavy. He looked at the inner mechanisms of the bot. It was mostly made up of a large container, presumably to capture the gang in. He looked down at the arm that was gripping Gwen. He looked at her. "Hold on!" He yelled over the inner whirrings of the bot and the battle outside, as he thrust himself into the machine. In the air, he curled himself into a ball and crashed down on the arm, spinning against it. He kept spinning and spinning and it soon began to dent. He pushed himself to go faster, and broke through the arm of the claw.

Gwen yelped at the tension from her leg suddenly disappeared. She slammed against the wall of the bot and pulled herself up slightly. She looked down to see Sonic up getting up, holding his head and looking rather dizzy. "Thanks, Sonic!" She called back. She pulled herself out of the small slot and dropped down onto the treads, landing on her feet. She ran with the treads for a few moments before realising she was not going forward nor back and that she could simply jump off. She hoped no one saw her moment of foolishness as she jumped off the tread.

Tails paused as he caught sight of a panel on the top of the bot between all the arms. He flew down to get a closer look, but the claws lashed out at him. "Ahh!" He cried, flying back. He hovered down to Amy as he pulled out a screwdriver. "Amy! I need your help! I think there'll be a way to shut down this thing from the top, but I can't get past all the arms!"

Amy looked at Tails and nodded. "Right, on it!" She said as the crushed a claw going for her face. "Knuckles, I need a boost!" She called. "And boost Sticks too!"

Knuckles ran over and grabbed Amy in one arm. Sticks bounded over and leapt into the other. Knuckles reared back his arms and flung them to the top of the bot. "Homerun!" He cheered himself on.

After landing, Amy and Sticks pressed themselves back to back as they smashed, crushed and tangled the arms. When there was enough room to land, Tails settled himself on the bot with them, unscrewing the panel he had seen before. Below it sat a number of coloured wires. He frowned as he inspected them.

"When in doubt..." He started, pulling out some wire clippers, "Snip 'em out!" He finished, cutting all the wires at once.

The bot froze. All at once, the arms dropped to the ground like deafening, steel rain. Gwen backed off, just out of reach for any of the arms to hit her. Sonic leapt out of the bot, admiring the team's handiwork. He grinned, looking at Eggman.

"Got anything else hidden in your folds, Egghead?"

Eggman was fuming. "Blast you, you stupid hedgehog!"

Amy walked to the edge of the bot with sticks, and Tails. "Hey!" She yelled, offense having been taken.

Eggman growled louder, "Fine! Blast you hedgehog _and friends_! I'll get you next time!" He hissed.

"Yeah, yeah." Gwen chuckled. She looked at the mantis blade she had. She looked at Eggman. She grinned, lobbing the claw at his machine. It stuck into the bottom, sparks flying out everywhere.

Eggman wailed and leapt from the machine just at it exploded, chunks of it falling to the ground. "I'll get you for that!" He cried, running away on foot. While Gwen, in the back of her mind, still felt like she should throttle the fat man, she did find it satisfying to blow up his contraption and watch him flee the scene.

Sonic stepped over to Gwen, clapping her on the back. "You did good!"

She looked at him and set a hand behind her head. "You- you think so? That second part I really just got captured."

"Nah." He folded his arms, "You were bait."

Amy came over, having made her way down from the robot. "And in the first half you did really good job."

"And did you not see the way you kicked Eggman's butt at the last second?" Tails hovered down, landing as light as a feather.

Gwen smiled with all the encouragement from the team. She nodded. "Right! Yeah." She held her head high and set her hands on her hips. "I did good."

Amy smiled. "I think, to celebrate Gwen's first battle against Eggman with us, you should all come round to mine! I'll cook up something good."

Gwen's eyes shot open and she grabbed Amy. "Really? Food?"

Amy gently pushed Gwen off, "Y-yes, food."

Gwen laughed, almost crying. "Yes! Something exists in this world that isn't Meh burger!"


	11. Chapter 11

Gwen woke up the next day, sniffing the air. She sat up, her ears standing straight as the scent of breakfast filled her nose. _Oh, man. Gee. Breakfast has never smelt so strong. Human senses are lame. I want these ones forever! Unless I'm smelling something bad or... there's a high pitched squeal. Nevermind. Human senses are a good middle ground. _She stretched and got up, looking over at Tails who was busy at work in the kitchen. "Dude, that smells amazing." She said, walking over and resting her hands on the countertop.

Tails looked back at his roommate and chuckled. "Well some people are here can actually cook. Amy cooks better but I'm at least second best. There's no way Sonic and Knuckles could cook and I'm pretty sure Sticks prefers to forage. What about you, Gwen?"

"Ehh." She scratched her cheek. "I have a decent taste for things and I can cook with the instructions, but then that's really just testing your instruction-following 'skills'. Also known as reading, I guess." She wandered over to the couch and sat down. "You really didn't have to make me anything."

"Of course I do! You're living in my home and you're only going to be here a while. A short while in the big picture, though I suppose it could feel like a long while to you. You probably want to get home." He pulled out a plate, moving the omelette he hadd cooked onto it. He delivered it to Gwen, then returned to the hob to make himself one too.

"Eh." Gwen picked up a magazine, reading the title 'Sidekick Magazine'. She opened it up, looking at the table of contents. "Not really. Don't get me wrong, I... no, nevermind. I was about to say I like living there. Not strictly true. I just didn't think about it all that much but I... do miss my family. I've never been far from them. This is the furthest I've ever been... Though I'm pretty sure this is the furthest anyone can get from anywhere." She glanced over the top of the magazine when Tails came over and sat down, looking worried. "You don't need to look at me that way. I'm fine. I may be far from home but I aren't worried or... overly bothered. God, that sounded cold." She mumbled the last part, burying her nose back in the magazine as she turned to the section that was labelled 'Sidekick Charts'.

"You're not bothered about home?" Tails mumbled through his omelette.

"Nah." Gwen skimmed over the introductory paragraph.

"I thought you said you cared about your family?"

"I do." She grumbled, looking back at him. Gwen felt somewhat offended that he would think she did not care about them. "Like I said before, I'm not in any great contact with my emotions. I make friends easy but I'm flighty and rarely keep them. I like company, but I need to be alone sometimes. You're making me talk about myself and now I sound weird." She hissed, ears flopping down. "I get that it's maybe a little hard to understand if you aren't also that way. But I'm not a sociopath or anything. I'm just... a bit disconnected from the social aspects of life sometimes." She glanced at the roof, momentarily wondering if she worded that right, then looked back at the charts. "Most of the time." She corrected. "And I'm sort of getting to that point where I'm gonna have to take a breather from all of this interaction before I blow my top. Not that I'd... do much outwardly. I tend to implode. The whole Eggman scenario being an exception... though I did implode before that... Maybe I implode then explode?" Gwen tilted the magazine down slightly as the took to attempting to analyse her own behaviour.

"Wow... you sure sound like you've spent way too much time analysing yourself." Tails pointed at her with his fork. He could not decide whether he should be impressed or worry about Gwen.

"That's because I have. I guess it could be argued that it was time wasted but it's helped me settle and accept how I am." Gwen pulled her mouth into a thin line as she skipped the rest of the introductory paragraph and went straight to the chart, scanning the list for something to divert the conversation with. "Ooh! Hey! You're number one sidekick of the month. Good job." Gwen set down the magazine as she picked up her omelette and dug in.

"Oh... heh. Yeah. I know." Tails grinned.

"You already read it?" Gwen asked, not moving her eyes away from the chart.

"Nah, I'm just top of the chart every month. Best sidekick around!" Tails looked awfully proud.

Gwen smiled and closed the magazine. "I bet Sonic is thankful to have you as his best bud."

"Yeah, he is. He just doesn-"

The door to the house slammed open. Gwen sighed slightly. There was always something happening around these guys. She loved an adventure or two but all the action one event after another felt like exercise. Or worse, a chore. She glanced over to the door as she stuffed some omelette into her mouth. Amy was standing in the doorway.

"Oh, Gwen! I think we have something we need to do!" Amy warbled, dancing over to the table. Gwen swallowed some omelette, but only stared at Amy. Amy gestured for Gwen to speak up, to be excited! Gwen did nothing. Amy huffed. "Shopping?" She reminded Gwen, leaning over. "We didn't have time before, but we do now! Well, really you ran away but I'm going to overlook that in the interest of our friendship!" Amy clasped her hand together. "It's going to be so fun!"

"Oh." Gwen plastered on a smile. "Ooh." Gwen slid her gaze over to Tails. She pleaded with her eyes for him to save her, or at least to lighten the burden by accompanying them. He shook his head. Amy look at Gwen, then followed her gaze. "Oh! You want Tails to come along too?"

Tails shot up, "Oh, no! I would really love to, Amy, but I have a lot of work to do on the dimensional transporter." He pointed at the door as he began to shuffle towards it. "Well, I best go get started!" He rushed out the house.

Amy rested her hand against her cheek. "I guess that can't be helped... sorry, Gwen." She looked away, then her eyes lit up with an excited glint. "But I know someone else who is definitely coming!" She gripped Gwen's arm and dragged her out.

The house was left empty with two half-eaten omelettes inside.

Gwen stood beside Amy, slouched over slightly, as the hedgehog knocked on the wall of a beachside shack. Sonic zipped to the door. He looked at Amy, then at Gwen. _Huh. So, this is Sonic's place. Seems pretty rundown. Oddly clean. Didn't take him for much of a clean type. _Gwen thought, then immediately turned her attention to trying to think up a way out of a shopping trip.

"Hi, Sonic!" Amy greeted, "Come on, we're going on a trip to the mainland!"

"Ahh... okay? Who else is coming?" Sonic leant against the door frame. He looked around, as if expecting more people to be there than just Amy and Gwen.

"Gwen and me." She pulled Sonic out of his shack. Sonic stumbled with the force of the tug.

"But we haven't asked Knuckles and Sticks if they want to go yet." Gwen pointed out, but shrank back when Amy glared at her.

"We don't need to ask! Knuckles will be busy tending to his gym and Sticks will be setting traps. What more do you need to know?" Gwen held her hands in front of herself, defending herself from the wrath of Amy. She nodded, just agreeing with her that no one else need be asked to accompany them. Amy hummed, appeased by the submission. "Let's go catch a boat!"

"We could take the Tornado." Sonic suggested.

Amy glanced at him. "Sonic. You can't fly the tornado." Sonic's ears folded down.

"I can learn on the go!" He chuckled nervously. "You know hero types! We can do just about anything!"

Amy shook her head. "No, Sonic. We'll take a boat!" Amy smiled, pulling both Sonic and Gwen along.

Sonic groaned and fixed his gaze on the ground, looking rather uncomfortable with the arrangement.

As it turns out, Begone Island had a small, underutilised ferrying system. Gwen sat on the deck as the waves gently rocked the boat. She looked over the deck, eyeing what she could of the little boat suspiciously. It seemed to be in a state of disrepair.

Sonic stayed by Gwen. He did not dare approach the edge of the boat. He glanced at her. "Not a fan of water either?"

"Eh?" She looked at him. "Water's fine, why?" She narrowed her eyes slightly and grinned. "You scared, Sonic?" She teased, tugging on his ear gently.

"N-no!" Sonic smacked her hand off, then folded his arms. "Like I'd be scared of water! I'm the number one hero of Bygone island._ Island_. I can't be scared of water when I live surrounded by it twenty four seven. And did you see my shack? I live of the beach, overlooking the ocean. I watch it everyday!"

Gwen nods. "Uh-huh. I see. So... when you were pulling your feet away from the ocean yesterday, it wasn't because it was getting a bit too close for comfort, mm?"

"No! I didn't want my shoes wet. These shoes cost mon-ey. Lots of mon-ey." He waved his arms as his spoke, then gestured to his shoes. "Do you realise how hard it is to find shoes that last when you run at the speed of sound?" He curled his hands into fists, getting riled up.

Gwen nodded. "I mean, I don't blame you. Water is a scary thing, you know?" She laid back. "Very deadly."

Sonic calmed slightly, though it was only his temper being smothered. He felt terribly uneasy that Gwen chose to talk about water and death. "W-well... yeah. That's... true."

"Especially cold water! Man, that'll kill you in just a couple minutes!" She looked at Sonic. "Scary stuff."

Sonic grimaced. "So... so what's this about? Are you afraid of water too?"

Gwen rolled her eyes and looked back at Sonic with the smuggest of grins. "Nah, but I got you to admit it." She laid back, resting her hands behind her head.

Sonic jolted, his spines pricking up as he realised what Gwen was talking about. "Hey! No! I- That was dirty!"

Gwen hummed, closing her eyes. "Choose your words more carefully next time. But... no, I aren't afraid of water. But I am worried this boat will sink. It's a tip." She opened her eyes, watching the clouds roll by. "Then I'll have a reason to fear the water."

Sonic shuddered, looking out at the ocean. He paled at the thought of having to take a dip in it if the boat sank.

Amy poked her head out from the cabin. "I can hear you talking you know! Gwen, stop picking on Sonic!"

"Yes, mother." Gwen droned, then a chuckle broke her bored expression at her own words.

Amy growled. "I am a kind and delicate, wonderful lady and I do not fit the stereotype of a bossy mother!" She slammed the cabin door.

Gwen and Sonic looked at each other and laughed. Gwen closed her eyes, holding her stomach as she tried to breathe. Sonic quieted down before Gwen. He smiled at her laugh, then looked away before she could spot him doing so.


	12. Chapter 12

Sonic, Gwen and Amy stepped off the little boat. Sonic stepped off to the side, rather unsteady on his feet after the journey. Gwen followed after spying his unsteady state, very cautiously patting the flat side of his spines.

"Aha... there, there. It's over now. Until we go back, I guess." Gwen said.

Sonic just groaned in response. He felt sick after having to travel over liquid death and Gwen's words weren't what he needed to hear.

Amy waltzed ahead, shading her eyes from the sun as she looked at the city before them. She looked back at the hedgehog and rabbit, motioning them over with a simple wave. "Come on guys. What are you waiting for? Let's get going!"

Sonic took a breath. He shook his arms and jogged on the spot before straightening himself out. "Right..!" He called, heading over.

Gwen watched him pass, then caught up and walked with him to catch up to Amy.

Gwen could not help but stare at the buildings in the city. It was awfully familiar to cities on Earth! Though they seemed more like the typical American buildings than English ones. She pressed her fingers to her chin as she thought, stopping in her tracks to stare up at the heights. _I guess it could also be like Dubai. Not as hot, but Dubai-ish. Tourist areas tend to build high like this in some areas... I wonder if this place attracts a lot of tourists? _She was snapped from her thoughts by a forced, fake cough. She looked over at Sonic.

"We'll lose you if you stop in the middle of crowds like this." He pointed out, folding his arms. He looked up at the skyscraper that had been Gwen's centre of attention. "Never seen one before?"

"No, I've seen plenty. Enough, at least. Well, actually... not as tall as these. I've seen ones like this on TV but not face-to-face. They're more foreboding in real life, ha." She turned and the two caught up to Amy again. "In my world I live in the countryside. And the country I live in does have skyscrapers, but they aren't super impressive ones. There's other countries and places known for being built up high. My country kind of took the, uh, 'sprawling mess' approach to creating cities."

Amy reached over and took Sonic's arm as Gwen spoke. "What are the shops like?" She asked.

Sonic looked at Amy. His ears twitched and he shook his head slightly.

"Eh." Gwen droned, "Probably the same as here."

Amy pouted slightly, "You're sure?"

"No, Amy, I'm not sure. I'm saying 'probably' because I haven't seen a comparison yet." Gwen pointed out.

Amy hummed, then bounced slightly. "We best find one fast, then!" She squealed and rushed off with Sonic.

Gwen reached after them, "Ah! Wait! Wait happened to me getting lost? Amy? Amy!" Gwen chased after the hedgehog duo with clunky but coordinated steps.

By the time they stopped, Amy was stood in front of two gigantic glass doors. Sonic seemed to have zoned out somewhat and looked like he would rather be anywhere else. Gwen slowly trotted up behind them, metal clanks sounding every time her feet hit the pavement. She looked over the doors. She took a deep breath before heading inside ahead of the other two.

Looking around, Gwen noted that it was just like a regular shopping mall. "Huh. Well." She turned back to the other two. "Nothing special."

Amy frowned, "So it's the same as your world?"

"Pretty much... the items will be different but there's nothing that makes this place any different than what I know. That said, it is quite a nice mall. They've actually made an effort to make the place look welcoming and clean." Gwen hummed, a little impressed. "Alright. Lead the way, Amy."

Amy grinned, grabbing both Sonic and Gwen before running off deeper into the mall.

As the hours passed, Amy commanded the trip. They went to make-up, jewellery and clothes outlets – though it was mostly just browsing. The place where Amy took most of the time was, of course, the clothing stores. She would go in, sift through every rack to find all the clothes she liked and had Gwen try them on.

With each new set of clothes Gwen tried, Amy would judge and Sonic would progressively look more bored. He rarely showed interest in anything the trip was offering so far. Though there were instances where he would pay attention to the outfit, especially if it was blue.

Gwen came out in yet another outfit and sighed. "Amy, do I really have to keep doing this? Can't people in this world, like, not wear clothes?"

Amy gasped, "No! Well, yes. But not a woman! That's completely unlady-like... and it's just not a norm."

Sonic snorted. "I dunno, I wouldn't mind her wandering around without clothes." Amy turned to Sonic. Gwen did not see the face she made, but Sonic shot up and zipped off, hiding behind a clothes rack. "O-of course, I wasn't thinking or saying that in a way that would be rude." He grinned nervously.

Gwen looked at herself. She was not sure how to react to someone saying something like that. She was not at all offended. In a way, it was really quite flattering, if also rude and completely out of line.

Amy turned back to Gwen, steam practically pouring from her ears. "You. Have. To. Wear. Clothes."

Gwen held her hands up, "Okay, okay, I get it. Just... thought I could get away with that seen as most of the guys walk around with... next to nothing on." She took a breath. "Can I at least wear something that isn't a dress, Amy? I'm not a big fan of them..." She put her fingers to her chin. "But I also need something that won't catch in my joints I guess... maybe tight leggings and a jacket? If it's taut, there's no reason for it to get stuck... and I don't have and sharp points... except my fingers..." Gwen waggled the claws of her right hand to emphasise her point.

Amy set her hands on her hips. _First Sonic goes and starts flapping his mouth, then Gwen wants to take over the trip. _Amy growled in her own mind, but she took a breath before saying anything. "Okay. We'll find you something fitting closer to your description." She went back to the racks after giving a brief glance to Sonic to check he hadn't fled the scene.

After some time, Gwen eventually got settled in an outfit she was comfortable with: tight, white leggings, black boots and a brown leather jacket. Though, Amy insisted that the jacket could only be vegan leather. Sonic suggested that Gwen got gloves, to match the rest of the team.

"But Sticks doesn't wear gloves." Gwen pointed out, not wanting to have her hands feel sweaty all the time. "Plus, I have white socks on my arms- I mean... arm. It'll look weird having white on white. That is... if you were thinking of white gloves. And my other hand has pointy bits on, so I'd only end up wearing one glove." Gwen paused for a moment, then shrugged slightly. "Or fingerless ones."

"Fine, pass on the gloves." He waved his hand dismissively. "Felt like it gave a sense of team identity myself, but the fashion police don't seem to agree."

Having found a comfortable set of clothes at long last, Amy took Gwen to get pampered. Sonic settled for having a massage in the meantime. Walking out of the shop, Gwen fiddled with the now-curled patch of fur on the top of her head, letting out a growl. _This is getting ridiculous. I'm bending over backwards for this. I get Amy's being nice and all, but this just isn't my thing. _Sonic looked over Gwen, having taking notice of her irritation.

"Hey, c'mon, at least you look nice!" He winked.

"I'm starting to think any winks from you all have undertones." Gwen grumbled. "And what's that supposed to mean, like I wasn't looking nice before?" She set her hands on her hip, turning to the hedgehog.

Sonic jumped, caught off-guard by the sudden aggression. He held his hands up in defence, he did not want to face anymore wrath from women. "No, no, you look nice all the time!" He slid his eyes over to Amy, noting her shift to look at him in his peripheral vision. She was fuming, too. Sonic stepped back, thinking he had dug himself a deep, deep grave.

Gwen folded her arms, glancing passed him as neon lights caught her eye. She gasped and ran off. Sonic tilted an ear down, looking behind himself.

"Gwen! Where are you going? We aren't done!" Amy whined.

Gwen stopped, pointing up at the sign of the venue. "Arcade!"

Sonic zipped over to Gwen's side at the distraction from the situation and the shopping part of this trip. "Now, I like this idea way more." He declared, strolling in.

Gwen beckoned Amy over eagerly, a grin covering her face, before bolting in herself. Amy folded her arms and huffed. _They're ruining my carefully planned out day!_ Despite her disappointment and mild anger, she sighed and let it go. She figured if they both wanted to go to the arcade, that was where they should go. "Two against one..." She mumbled before following after the pair.

Sonic shot over to one of the racing booths as imagery of cars racing whizzed by on the screen. Gwen stepped over and leant around Sonic to get a good look at the booths and what they were about. He glanced back at her. "I bet I can beat you." He smirked, already getting into the seat.

Gwen took a moment to register the challenge before leaping into the seat beside him and wrapped her hands around the wheel. "You're on."

Amy hung back, watching as Sonic passed Gwen some coins so that they could play. She left them alone for the time being, though she could not help but start to feel angry at Gwen. No, anger wasn't the right word._ Jealous_ of Gwen. She frowned, but her expression melted away when she saw a fuzzy puppy set claw machine. A welcome distraction.

Gwen folded her arms, sitting back as Sonic leapt from his seat, cheering.

"Who's the fastest hedgehog around?" He pointed both of his thumbs at himself. "Me, of course!"

"Okay, okay, you won!" Gwen huffed and got up, then shoved him by the shoulder gently. "Good job." She smiled.

Sonic looked at her and lowered his hands. After a moment, he smiled back and snatched her hand. "I'm gonna beat you on the shooting games next!" His smile morphed into a confident grin as he pulled Gwen off to another set of games. He twisted his ears slightly as Gwen's laughter caught his attention.

Sonic and Gwen and Amy spent the rest of the day in the arcade. After Amy had managed to get a new fuzzy puppy for her collection, she joined Gwen and Sonic at the booths. Most of the games were only two player, so Gwen swapped out with Amy regularly so that everyone got to play. Sonic refused to budge from playing. He was having a blast beating Amy and Gwen at every game.

It was not quite the end to the day Amy had planned, but as the group returned to the docks, she was happy it went the way it did. Maybe she was angry that Sonic had made some remarks that pushed her buttons and maybe she began to realise Gwen was a rival as well as her friend, but ultimately, everyone got to do a bit of what they wanted and they all managed to end the day happy.

Sonic groaned as he looked at the ship. "Not this again. It'll make me puke up that chilli dog I had..."

Amy scrunched her face up at the commentary. "Ew." She sighed. "It'll be fine, Sonic. Come on." She hopped on to the boat.

Gwen stepped on and glanced back at Sonic, "Ah, if you do toss, please do it over the side of the S.S. Dumpster."

Sonic groaned louder. A practical response was not what he was seeking. He hopped onto the boat and planted himself roughly where he was before. Gwen went to sit beside him, but Amy grabbed her attention and brought her to sit in the cabin instead, leaving Sonic the only one on deck.


	13. Chapter 13

Gwen sat with her chin in her hand, elbow rested on the window of the cabin she sat in. She looked up at the skies. Grey. She groaned. Grey skies reminded her of rain. Rain reminded of Britain. Rainy old Britain. She tilted her head slightly as she leant her temple on the window, looking over at Sonic, still sat in the middle of the deck. Gwen had wondered why he'd stayed out the whole time. It must've been cold, if the whispers of the breeze against the door and windows was anything to go by. She wished he had come in though. She could have used some entertainment other than Amy, who had been babbling to her none stop the entire journey. Babbling wasn't what she wanted to hear. She'd started the day wanting a break from people, yet she ended up having a social day. Gwen found this to be a sour end to, what had surprisingly been, a good day.

The boat rocked. Gwen furrowed her brow – admittedly, beginning to get a little worried. The sea felt a bit rougher than on the travel there._ No, don't worry, everything's fine. _She told herself, looking at the island that was growing closer by the second – even if she couldn't see the change per second. _We're almost home._

After another fifteen minutes, the boat was rocking violently for such a tiny vessel. Water was splashing onto the deck and lapping at the interior of small barriers that would normally keep it out. Sonic, as a result, had zipped off and chose to sit on top of the cabin. Gwen gripped her seat as a sheet of water seeped under the cabin door and across the floor. Somehow, it felt worse to be in such a scary situation when she couldn't see Sonic. His presence was reassuring, even if he himself was visibly afraid of the water.

Amy screamed and Gwen yelped as a wave crashed into the boat, smashing against the window and washing over the top of the cabin. Water poured down the windows, obscuring the view to the outside world. Gwen shot up, arms out for balance. She was convinced the boat was done for - then her eyes snapped open. _Sonic was on the cabin! _She rushed outside, followed by Amy. "Sonic!" She yelled, the wind howling. When had the wind gotten so strong? It hadn't seemed nearly as fierce from the confines of the cabin. Gwen hoisted herself up to look on top of the cabin. Sonic was clung to the top of a ladder which gave access to the roof, shivering and wet. He pulled himself up and zipped over to Gwen and Amy. In his haste, he slipped onto his back on the wet deck.

"Oof!" He grunted as he hit the deck and slid into the barrier. He looked up at Gwen and Amy but had no room in his mind to begin feeling embarrassed. He instead got up, gripping Gwen as he looked at the ocean. He rubbed his lower back. "I-I knew w-we sh-shouldn't have c-come on th-this boat..." He forced out through chattering teeth.

Gwen stayed silent. Amy rushed over beside the shivering blue hedgehog and wrapped an arm around him. "We should go back inside. It's colder out here, and more wet! And... more scary."

Gwen nodded, "Right—"  
"No." A squawky voice interrupted her. A white bird with a black head approached them. The Captain – a seagull fellow. He'd been below deck. "I know it's mighty fierce but if the boat capsizes and starts to sink, the pressure could keep you locked in the cabin."  
Gwen felt stiff but offered a nervous smile as Amy shuddered at the thought. Sonic was beginning to look like a ghost. This wasn't how Amy had imagined the trip ending. She felt awful, in fact. The last thing she wanted to do was to lead everyone into a horrifying situation.

"So wh-what do we d-do?" Sonic stammered, holding himself. While he was terrified, he had nowhere to run to on the small boat. Everywhere was dangerous.

"We..." Gwen started, then stopped. "I-I don't know." She looked at Sonic, then Amy.

"M-maybe we sh-should hold o-onto s-som-something." Sonic suggested.

"To stop us getting swept overboard?" Amy expanded and Sonic nodded.

"Mighty fine idea." The Captain said. He was keeping his cool as he stepped aside to give the passengers space.  
Amy grabbed onto the ladder along with Sonic, while Gwen held onto the barrier with the Captain. Amy looked at the life bouy dangling at the side of the boat and pulled her mouth into a thin line. She had to remember that was there in case something happened. She made sure to point it out to the others and they gave a nod of acknowledgement.

It didn't take long for their worst fear to materialise. They watched in horror as a large wave came crashing down on the boat, smashing into them. Sonic clung to the ladder desperately, but Amy and Gwen were knocked off, both tumbling into the sea with the wave. Sonic hacked and coughed, screaming after them as the boat turned over. He struggled under the water. He didn't dare let go of the ladder. He couldn't swim! He squeezed his eyes shut until arms wrapped around him and pulled him to the surface.

When he breached the surface of the water, Sonic took a large gulp of air and began to pant shallow breaths in his panic. He glanced back. It was the captain. The captain pushed him onto the base of the now overturned boat and looked around the waves. He didn't see the other two. He dived down.

Sonic waited anxiously on the slippery panels, on his hands and knees as his eyes skittered on the ever-moving liquid wall. He could see any sign of the other three while he was on the boat. He wasn't sure how long it was, though it felt to Sonic like an eternity, before the Captain breached the surface and clambered onto the boat besides Sonic.

Sonic gripped him, "Did you see Amy and Gwen?" He frantically shook the captain. "Where are they?" The captain shook his head.

"Nay, lad." He mumbled, regretfully.

Sonic let his mouth fall open slightly and froze. He loosened his grip on the bird and pulled away. He turned his gaze to the swirling depths. There was no Gwen or Amy on the surface. Sonic had no idea what to do. He felt powerless. He felt totally and utterly helpless. He couldn't do anything to save his friends. In a way, it was surreal. It felt like a nightmare - not reality. He sucked in a breath as he stood and curled his hands into fists. However, one lurch of the slippery surface and Sonic was back on all fours, gripping what surface there was for dear life. He gritted his teeth. He couldn't let his fear get the best of him now. He had to try. With that thought in mind, Sonic took a breath and braced himself, before pushing himself off of the boat and into the water.

When Amy was knocked from the ladder, she was forcefully slammed back into Gwen and took the bunny with her. They twirled in the waves, before they began to sink. It took Amy a moment to collect herself, but she began to swim. She could feel herself practically being dragged down and her vision was blurred. Her body felt like ice. She then remembered she was not alone and looked around, before looking down. Gwen was below Amy and from what the hedgehog could make out, was making all the motions to swim, but was still sinking. Amy's heart felt like it was about to stop. Was Gwen weighed down by the metal? Amy swam down and took hold of Gwen's hand. She tried to pull her up. Instead, Amy only slowed the descent into the depths and was in fact being dragged down too. Amy briefly drew a blank on what to do as she focused on the blurred smudge that she knew to be the face of her friend – and rival – so desperately trying to swim. She was trying to survive, but Amy knew that holding onto her wouldn't help. Looking down, Amy saw the sea floor. It wasn't far down. They were over the coral reef. Amy etched a determined expression on to her face despite how overwhelming the circumstances were and swam up towards the surface.

On her way up, a blue streak entered into the water. For a moment, she was confused before realising the streak was Sonic. He flailed his arms and legs in untrained movements, though he didn't get far. He was sinking, albeit, slower than Gwen had. Wasting little time, Amy continued on her way up, grabbing Sonic along the way – though he smacked her in the face once or twice in panic.

The two hedgehogs breached the surface. They both gasped. Sonic coughed. "Amy?!" He spluttered, confused but relieved one of his friends was fine. Amy twirled in the water, with Sonic in her arms, disoriented though her vision began to sharpen and the waved tugged her where they pleased. When she looked at Sonic he looked as terrified as she felt. She wanted to scold Sonic for recklessly jumping in. The idiot couldn't swim! However, now was not the right time. Instead, she said nothing.  
"Heads up!" She heard a familiar seagull yell before the blur or an orange and red lifebuoy splashed down in the water near them. Amy gripped onto it, keeping ahold of Sonic, as the Captain reeled them in.  
Amy helped shove Sonic up onto the boat after the lifebuoy reached it. She stayed in the water in silence, until she realised the solution to the issue was what she was holding. Amy bit her lip and yanked the rope of the lifebuoy up from the water, holding the end out to Sonic. Sonic stared at her, not understanding what she wanted.

"Sonic, cut it! Cut it quick!" She pleaded.

With the command given, he wasted no time. He curled straight into a ball and span, sawing through the rope with ease. When he stopped, he almost slipped off the boat, but the captain caught him by his arms.

Amy gripped the rope, now loose in her hands. She gave one end to Sonic. "When I tug, pull. Both of you." She instructed. She took a gulp of air and dived.

Sonic anxiously waited on the boat. He understood he had been dumb when he dove in, but what else was he supposed to do? Wait for his friends to drown? At least Amy seemed to understand what she was doing. He gripped the rope tightly with both hands. However, he loosened his grip and fed some length through to the Captain. He didn't like not knowing what exactly was happening, but he knew enough to figure out this likely meant Gwen was in trouble and this was Amy's solution.  
He hoped to Chaos it worked.  
His grip on the roped tightened again despite his shivering form as he glared down at the churning water in anticipation.

After what felt like hours of waiting, hours of staring at the water, hours of dreading what would be the outcome of this event, Sonic felt the rope abruptly tug down. His ears perked and his brows furrowed as he began pulling with all his strength. The captain began to pull too. They reeled in the rope as fast as they could. Amy breached the surface of the water with a drenched and limp Gwen wrapped up in her arms. Around Gwen's shoulders was where the other end of the rope was tied. Sonic leant over the side, pulling Gwen onto the boat as Amy pushed her up. Sonic pressed his ear to her chest. His expression dropped. Amy quickly moved to shove Sonic aside and took his place beside her – she understood all she need to from his look. She covered Gwen's nose, taking a breath and passing it to her, twice. She placed her hand down on Gwen's ribs, laying the other over it. She pushed down, quietly counting each compression to herself.

Sonic stood back. He watched Amy, then looked at Gwen for any sign of life. He was still for a moment before he raised his wrist and pressed down on his communicator while Amy worked, calling for rescue.

After fifteen compressions, Amy repeated the cycle. She choked slightly, tears slipping out of her eyes mid-way through the second round. "Please..." She begged, despite knowing the words wouldn't work. She was doing what she could. Words were all that was left to try.

As she prepared for the third round, Gwen coughed, sending seawater into Amy's face, but the pink hedgehog didn't care. Amy just cried and leant down over Gwen for a moment before trying to help the bunny reposition herself. Gwen rolled onto her side, then her front, coughing and spluttering. She trembled, gasping as she wiped her mouth, inspecting the pink froth on her fingers. She closed her eyes, too shocked to consider what it is. Gwen rested her head down, not speaking or trying to move further. She just laid and spluttered, doing her best to just recover.

Sonic watched. He wiped his eyes, relieved. He stepped over and knelt down, rubbing Gwen's back as they waited upon rescue.

When Tails finally arrived in the Tornado, Amy and the Captain climbed in. It was dangerous weather to be flying in, but Tails was willing to risk it. He'd heard the desperation and what had happened. Sonic and Amy worked as a team, using their energy whips to hoist Gwen into the Tornado, her ears drooped down over her face. While she was alive and conscious, she simply wasn't strong enough to climb into the plane alone. Amy wrapped what blankets were available around Gwen, then sat on one side of her as Sonic sat on the other. Both were as attentive to Gwen's needs despite her being quiet and despite them being shocked and shivering themselves.

Back at the island, Gwen was taken back to Tails' house. She was laid in bed while Doc checked her. Sonic, Amy and Tails stayed out of the way while Doc did what he needed to. Tails had fetched more blankets and wrapped up his two hedgehog friends, along with providing them a hot cup of cocoa with cream and a marshmallow each for good measure. While Amy didn't touch her drink, Sonic wrapped his hands around his mug to keep warm. They had spaced themselves apart, with Tails in a chair, Amy on the couch and Sonic leant against the wall. None of them spoke.

When Doc approached the gang, they all shot out of their miserable sulk to listen to his next words.

"She'll be fine." He smiled. "I've given her some extra oxygen, now she just needs plenty of rest to recover her energy." The group released a collective sigh. "if you need me again, just call." With that, the Doc left.

Sonic sunk down from being rested against the wall. The blanket pooled behind him as he sat on the floor, setting his mug aside before burying his face in his hands. "I couldn't do anything."

"It's no one's fault, Sonic." Amy said. She stepped over, keeping her blanket firmly wrapped around her as she crouched down in front of Sonic.

"I know but..." Sonic growled, looking at her. "If I had just taken those swimming lessons or whatever maybe this wouldn't have turned out so badly."

"In the end, everyone made it out." Tails said. "Whether that could have been done faster doesn't matter now. Everyone will be okay." He reassured.

Sonic looked at Tails. He thought of how Tails was when he was in the plane crash. Sonic remembered how he swore to not let him get hurt again. He frowned slightly. He didn't mean that for just Tails. He wanted to protect everyone. The incident with Eggman was one thing – Eggman wasn't dangerous and the risk of anyone actually getting hurt was extremely low. But the sea? It doesn't care. He had failed miserably to protect someone. Regardless, Sonic nodded at Tails' words. "Right."

Over the next few days, Sonic remains at Tails' house, helping to care for Gwen as she recovered. Of course, just like before, everyone visited on occasion, but it was Sonic that stayed more than he needed to. Even Eggman attacks were something he rushed to get done so that he could be back at Tails' home, making sure Gwen was recovering okay. Though had the best of intentions, he struggled to be practically useful most of the time. Although Tails found Sonic to be a bit of a nuisance – the Blue Blur having a tendency to place things out of order and burn every meal he made – he couldn't deny that Sonic's presence in the house was keeping up Gwen's spirits. The fox often heard chuckles, yips and jokes coming from the pair – even though it was at his expense on occasion.

Tails walked over to the bed, where Gwen laid, giggling. He set down a tray with soup. "You're looking a lot better." Tails smiled.

Gwen looked at him. "Yeah, well, I feel a lot better too."

"And who's been the biggest help?" Sonic folded his arms, leaning forward expectantly.

Gwen laughed and shoved him away gently. "Nobody can beat the Blue Blur." She replied, indulging his ego. She smiled, then dug into her soup. She swallowed and waved a finger. "At least, not in bedside care." She rolled her eyes. "Even if he can't make toast."

"But I make a mean chilli dog." He smirked. Gwen shuddered.

"Yeah - I'll just take your word on it."

Tails watched the two banter. He smiled and turned away, leaving them to it. What happened to Gwen was bad. The guilt Tails knew Sonic felt was bad. But those things combined gave them lots of time to get to know each other without Sonic running off or Gwen flipping out. The things that set the situation up were something they all wished could be avoided, but Tails was glad something good came out of it.


	14. Chapter 14

Gwen was once again up early on the beach. However, she had long since missed the sunrise. It had been three weeks since the visit to mainland. The event at sea was starting to feel quite distant, but it was still vivid in her mind and though she had recovered almost completely by the end of four days, the gang was intent on looking out for her. Amy had even gone and bought her a new set of the clothes that she picked out to replace the ones ruined by seawater and Tails had taken a lot of care to make sure her metal limbs were primed and in top condition after their exposure to salt water.

Gwen looked at the waves lapping at her metal feet. She wriggled her single 'toes' on their joints before burying them under the sand. She wondered briefly if it wanted to pull her back in. She folded her arms as she reflected on her new attribute: not being able to swim. She would have to be quite cautious around water moving forward. All the good points of having robotic parts were nice, though experiencing them had made Gwen too comfortable. She hadn't even thought of how being part metal could've affected her in that way or other ways that might be similar.

She groaned and pulled her knees up, resting her chin on them. Home sickness had really started to set in, too. It had caught her quite off-guard, but it had reared its head. She cursed herself for being attached to her old world. She doubly cursed herself for being attached to the new one, too. It would have been easier if she didn't get attached, but when the gang had spent weeks caring for her it was hard. Sonic, especially, seemed to pay careful attention to what she was doing. He never did restrict her, though he tended to do things for her which left Gwen with nothing to do. It felt almost the same as being restricted.

Gwen turned her ear, then her head slightly as footsteps crossed the sand behind her. She could take a decent guess at who it was.

"Out here again, huh?" Sonic plopped down beside her. "This is starting to become a routine for you. You've practically been bunking outside my shack for the past couple weeks."

"Your shack in an eyesore, no one would want to bunk outside of it. I only come down early in the morning."

"My shack is the best shack." He twisted his mouth into a lopsided grin. "It has to be, it's mine."

"That's like saying it's the tallest toddler in nursery." Gwen chuckled, lifting her head slightly. Sonic growled in mock-annoyance. "Besides, the sand's pretty comfortable... after you get over the sand getting everywhere you don't want it to be, that is."

"I hear ya." Sonic agreed, reflecting on the amount of sand that tends to blow into his shack. He should get a door. "So, uh... you wanna..." Sonic scrunched up his face, forcing out his next words. "Want to talk... _feelings_?" He got the gist that perhaps she'd been coming out here to think. That, or she just liked the view.

"No." Gwen replied flatly; Sonic sighed in relief. "Why put yourself in front of a bullet like that?"

"I'd take a bullet for any friend." He pulled one knee up, resting his arm on it. "Admittedly, I'd rather take a real one..." He mumbled.

Gwen smiled and shook her head. "I think I disagree there, but you have a totally understandable viewpoint... aside from the actual possible death and all of that jazz." Gwen grinned and shoved Sonic gently. He shoved her back much harder, pushing her over into the sand. She groaned and pushed herself up, brushing sand out of her fur. Sonic laughed as she glanced back with a rumble of annoyance. When Sonic focused down on her, his ears twitched.

"Welp," He shot up, jogging on the spot as he spoke. "Gotta run! Can't miss my morning island lap." He ran off down the beach, though he only ran at the pace of a slightly-faster-than-average person.

Gwen got up and chased him, "No you don't! SONIC!"

Sonic looked back and flashed Gwen a grin as he stopped to let her catch up a bit. Once she was close, her revved up his run and bolted off in a flash. Gwen covered her face as flecks of sand pelted her arms. She dropped her arms after the pelting stopped and groaned as she brushed the grains from her fur, though much of it adamantly stuck to her.

Later that day, after getting herself cleaned off, Gwen found the gang - all except Sticks - munching down at Meh Burger. She had taken time trying to get all the grains of sand out of her fur and from various crevices. It was a futile effort.

"Hey Gwen!" Tails greeted, gesturing to a chair beside himself. "We saved you a seat."

She smiled and walked over, seating herself. A burger was placed in front of her by Amy.

"It might be a bit cold now, but we at least made sure Sonic didn't order you a chilli dog."

Gwen chuckled, though inwardly she thanked the larger presence that may be as she unwrapped her burger.

"Uh – correction: Gwen would love a chilli dog." Sonic folded his arms as he set his feet up on the bench. Amy grimaced, shoving his feet off of the side roughly.

"Eating area." She said him, gesturing at the table, as if she had reminded him before. "No feet with food."

"It's Meh burger, Amy. It isn't food. Besides, these tables are probably worse than my shoes." Sonic pointed out as he accepted a chilli dog from Dave. The intern had brought him a small pyramid of the things.

Gwen rolled her eyes slightly as Amy began to fume. However, Amy's face soon contorted into realisation and finally into disgust before pushing her chair a couple inches back from the table. The bunny bit into her burger, munching away anyway.

"Anyone want to play volleyball later?" Tails asked, looking over the group.

"Alight! Now we're talking." Sonic mumbled, muffled by the chilli dog he was shoving into his mouth. He gulped his food down. "We'll go right after I finish this round."

"Ah," Gwen interrupted, "Actually, I'm going to go wander. Works out better that way anyway, two per team and all that."

"Just 'wander'?" Amy asked, "Really?"

"I wander all the time!" Knuckles puffed out his chest, but then set a finger to his chin. "That means you get lost right?"

"Uh. No, Knuckles. Just a harmless walk. Without getting lost. I wander around a fair bit anyway; I know the area pretty well now."

Sonic tapped his finger on the table. He then pointed at Gwen's communicator. "As long as you take your communicator with you."

"It never leaves my wrist." Gwen assured him, though a small, spiteful part of her wanted to take it off just for the sake of it. She brushed that feeling off.

Amy smiled, "And you call us if anything happens."

"Okay _mum_ and _dad_."

Sonic gasped, then coughed. He clutched his throat, choking on his chilli dog until he coughed up the chunk stuck in his throat. He sat up straight.

"_What_?" He blurted, though Gwen had already stood and began walking away.

Amy giggled, then cleared her throat. A light blush dusted her cheeks before the two hedgehogs shared a glance. They were quick to begin justifying themselves and falsifying the implication to Tails and Knuckles, but more so to each other.

An hour and a quarter later, Sonic, Amy, Tails and Knuckles were playing volleyball. The game was in full swing, though Sonic and Tails were currently winning. Knuckles whacked the ball. It slammed into Tails' chest and sent him straight into the sand. Sonic whacked the ball back and helped his buddy up.  
"You alright?" He checked, though his gaze was focused on the ball.

"Yeah.." Tails mumbled as he brushed sand from his fur. "Guess I'm a lightweight."

"Guys?" Gwen's voice buzzed out of their communicators as the ball was returned by Amy. Sonic zoomed and hit the ball back. The ball bounced off out of bounds while Amy and Knuckles were distracted.

"Ha! Win!" Sonic fist pumped into the air.

"I wasn't ready!" Knuckles growled, then gestured to his communicator, "My watch was talking to me!"

Tails shook his head, "That was Gwen."

Sonic smirked and he brought the communicator to his mouth. "Thanks for the strategic distraction."

"Uh... no problem?" She went quiet for a second. "Look, can someone come and help me out? I may have – just maybe - wandered into a trap."

Everyone's eyes shot open a bit wider.

"I'll be right there!" Sonic said, already starting to zoom off.

"A-ta-ta! Wait!" Gwen cried upon hearing the urgency he seemed to have. Sonic skidded to a halt at the edge of the jungle and held his position for a moment before setting his leg down. "I only need one person. It's not what you're thinking." She grumbled, lowering her voice slightly. "It's one of Sticks' traps."

Sonic's posture relaxed and he chuffed as he held in a laugh, "Really?"

"Really. Now just... come over." Gwen growled quietly. She wasn't annoyed with anyone but herself. "Really starting to feel light-headed."

Tails shook his head slightly, though he was smiling. He jogged over to Sonic and took his wrist, fiddling with his communicator until a radar came up. "You'll be able to track her with this. Follow the purple dot." He instructed.

"Aw, why can't I go?" Knuckled whined as he and Amy made their way over.

Tails folded his arms. "Because Sonic is the fastest and there's no actual danger. On top of that, you'd probably get lost."

Sonic gave a two-fingered salute. "So long, Knucks." He looked at his radar, then bolted off.

Gwen folded her arms as she waited, swinging from the tree. A vine was wrapped tightly around both of her ankles. As it turns out, her time stuck upside-down had led her to discover that she had rocket boosters on the soles of her feet. It was a discovery she cursed that she didn't realise she had earlier. Perhaps she could have saved herself some trauma. Regardless, she couldn't actually control them and her initial discovery of them, from the shock of getting yanked up into the air, had left her swinging violently in the tree. As the swinging had subdued, she kept it going – swinging forwards and backwards gently in a bid to distract herself from the unsettled sickliness her stomach had churned up and to entertain herself while waiting for someone to arrive. She didn't have to wait long.

"Ha-ha-hoo! What do we have here?" Eggman chortled, hovering down in his flying machine. A spherical spy bot flew up beside him, buzzing around.

Gwen looked at him. The sight of the man still sent shivers down her spine, even though she knew he wasn't the same kind of threat anymore.

"What do you want, lardass?" She hissed. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Lardass? That's awfully harsh." Eggman whined. "I've been on a strict diet!"

"You'll fail at that diet." She pulled her lips into a thin line, frowning. Her sourness of Eggman wasn't helped by her current predicament.

"I know..." Eggman relented, but then perked up. "Wait, no! I don't have to take that from you!" He growled as he stood, leaning over the windshield of his transport and gripping it for support. "Robots, attack!" He screamed.

"What? Really? While I can't even fight?" Gwen asked with an edge of nervousness. That was low, and, admittedly, she panicked – she was in a vulnerable position and though Eggman was hardly a threat anymore, her prior experiences still had her convinced her life was at stake. She unfolded her arms, flailing them to grab at the nearest tree as she swung towards it. Perhaps if she could get a grip on something, she could free herself. She even tried to power up the rockets in her feet, but she didn't know how.

From the bushes, out hopped mantis bots and moto bugs. One of the mantis bugs detached its blade, throwing it at Gwen. It hit her ankle. It deflected off, bent at an awkward angle, but dealt no damage to Gwen. However, it did manage to break the vine.

"Ha-! YOW!" She cried, landing on her back. She got up, briefy taking a moment to rub her back, before getting into fighting stance and spoking into her communicator. "Nevermind that thing about Sticks' trap."

"So you don't need help?" Sonic asked. "I don't get to save the day?"

"Ehh..." Gwen hummed, before clutching onto a moto bug that attempted to ram into her and taking it for a joy ride. "I may have run into some Eggman troubles too. Just maybe."

"Just maybe, huh?" She heard Sonic say. He sounded awfully close. She glanced back as the moto bug she rode ran circles around the small clearing they were in. Sonic was stood at the edge of the clearing, watching the scuffle. She chuckled.

"You gonna stand there all day, Champ?" She grinned as he revved up.

"Just watch and learn, Twinkle Toes." Sonic smirked, though the last thing he'd wanted to see was Gwen tangled up with Eggman. It pricked a nerve with him.

Gwen groaned. _Don't tell me that nickname is sticking. Please, for the love of God._

Sonic shot off, smashing into a mantis bot, then a moto bug. The moto bug smashed into a second one then they skidded off along the ground and into the foliage, leaving tire tracks on the torn-up ground.

Gwen raised her leg and smashed down on the moto bug she was riding. She hopped onto a second one as the broken one rolled off and smashed into a tree.

"Duck!" Sonic yelled.

Before Gwen could react, Sonic had already zoomed over and dipped her down in his arms as he leant down and pinned his ears back - a mantis blade passing just over them. Gwen stayed quiet. She felt her face heating up with Sonic's face only a couple inches from her own. She hadn't quite expected to end up in such a position during battle, if ever. She swallowed and snapped herself out of it however, upon realising Sonic hadn't moved off again at the first opportunity. In fact, he was struggling to not drop her while holding an awkward grin as he gestured for her to do something with his eyes. Gwen stood herself up and straighten out. He sighed, relieved after her weight was out of his arms – and he was no longer at risk of dropping her. He rubbed his arm, then frowned and smashed into the mantis bot that threw the weapon. He dusted his hands then placed his wrists on his hips, looking up at Eggman.

"Any more toys, Egghead?"

Eggman fumed. "Curses! That was such a good opportunity to take a hostage or begin picking you goobers off one-by-one." He grumbled, then looked between the two, both standing quite smugly as they stared him down. "Fine! I'll go. Happy? Enjoy your nature walk, Lovebirds!" He hissed, hovering away.

Gwen quickly dropped her smug pose while Sonic's eyes widened slightly.

"It's not like that!" Gwen yelled after the doctor.

"I don't like her!" Sonic also yelled, gesturing at her with both hands. His ears tilted back when he felt eyes drilling into him. He glanced over at Gwen.

"You don't like me?" She folded her arms, scowling.

"I-I don't mean I don't like you! I don't like-like you!" He shook his head frantically, "I mean, love!" He held his hands up in his own defence, "You know what I mean!"

Gwen broke her look and snorted, then laughed and began heading back, waving her hand. Sonic followed her with his gaze, confused at first before he slowly began to realise she had duped him. "Oi! Oi!" He jogged to catch up, then walked beside her. She glanced over at him with a certain smugness.

"You should've seen your face. Man, I wish I had a camera for that." She grinned.

"Oh, yeah?" Sonic challenged. "Well, you should've seen your face when I saved your butt from that mantis bot."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Like I'd have made any kind of face."

Sonic zipped in front of her, walking backwards. Her placed his hands behind his head. "Oh yeah, you did. And if I didn't know any better, I'd say you _did_ like me." He cleared his throat. "Like-li-"

"Love." Gwen corrected, interrupting. "You sound dumb saying 'like-like'."

"Okay, fine, whatever, 'love'." Sonic relented but kept up a grin.

"Yeah, right. Like I'd fall for an egotistical, blue, anthropomorphic hedgehog with a trendy neckerchief and over-done sports tape whose main talent is running fast and blowing up when he can't have the win."

"H-hey!" Sonic furrowed his brow and slowed to a stop, though he tried to keep up his confident veneer. "I aren't any of those things!"

"So, what, you're denying you're a hedgehog?" She stepped closer as he opened his mouth to protest. She poked him in the chest. "And blue? And _fast_?"

"No. I'm sa-"

"Then we agree!" Gwen smiled and folded her arms in a 'final' manner.

Sonic growled, about to retort until they both heard a snap. A moment later, a net whipped up from the floor, dangling them both in it from them tree. Gwen did her best to keep away from Sonic's spikes and he half-heartedly struggled with the net. He was conscious of the fact that him moving could prick Gwen.

"This is not cool." Sonic growled as he folded his arms but seemed to relax instead of struggle. If the thing wasn't so sudden of restricting, it could have just been a hammock with extra-large holes and that was closed off from the rest of the world.

"Geh! Ow!" Gwen whined as Sonic's spikes pricked her despite his minimal movement. She tried to curl up behind her metal arm and legs. She groaned, then growled, yelling out into the forest: "STIIIIICKS!"


	15. Chapter 15

Gwen laid on Tails' couch with an issue of the 'Sidekick Magazine' covering her face. She was awake but comfortable resting. The magazine was simply the closest thing to provide some protection from the sunlight. The fox had gotten up early and headed out to his workshop. It was the usual routine and Gwen was used to it. She smiled slightly as a familiar buzz sounded, growing louder, then stopping. The door shut a few seconds afterwards.

"Morning, Champ." Gwen greeted. She squinted as the magazine was lifted slightly.

"Why you hidin' under there, huh? Surely you can't read that with it so close." Sonic he took a quick glance at the tilted page before he let go of the magazine, letting it drop back down onto Gwen's face. "Not that you need to read that thing to know the charts." Gwen gripped the spine and pulled it off, sitting up.

"You never know. Maybe I'm just incredibly near-sighted." She grumbled, focused on the ceiling before tilting her head back and looking up at Sonic. "You just here to trash my nap or what?"

Sonic shrugged and offered her a hand up and he pointed back over his shoulder with his thumb. "I think it's time I gave you a real tour of the island. You didn't really get very far with your 'wander' yesterday."

"I've been on other wanders." She took his hand, standing up. "But I really don't go far." She looked out the window as she thought about it, then back at Sonic. "I accept you tour offer." She flashed him a lopsided grin wand walked over to the door. She then, however, blocked to door and looked at Sonic. "I change my mind. W can go on one condition."

"Oh come on, you already agreed." Sonic tapped his foot.

"One condition." Gwen smiled. Sonic glanced over Gwen before he simply motioned for her to continue. "Ice cream."

Sonic and Gwen headed out of town and into the jungle. Both had ice cream cones with their selected flavours. Sonic had mint, while Gwen had Cherry. They met up with the river and began walking upstream. Sonic grumbled. "On second thoughts, this is a bad idea."

"Uh, why?"

"I have to walk everywhere. Do you understand how boring this is?" Sonic looked over her, looking displeased and bored.

She shrugged slightly and took a lick of her ice cream. "Ah, well, I guess you just have to admit you're beat."

"Just because you weigh- h-hey!" He yelped as she tugged on his ear lightly. He rubbed his ear when she let go.

"I would've thought Amy would've drilled it into your head not to talk about a lady's weight?" She arched her brows.

"Pfft, I don't see a lady here." He smirked, still rubbing his ear.

"I could swear you were born in a barn."

"No. But some seem to think I was born in a hedge. Doesn't seem like the most welcoming home life if you ask me." He assessed Gwen's look. "No, Gwen. I wasn't born in a hedge."

"Huh. It could've been a little fitting. Hedge, 'hedge'hog. How about a pile of wood? Hedgehogs love piles of wood!"

"No." He groaned. "I'm not a feral." He stopped walking, slouching. "I can't do this. We're going back. We're going back right now."

Gwen slowed to a stop too a little after she noticed he had. She decided not to push him to keep going. He was obviously far too bored with the walking pace.

"Okay, okay. We can go back." Gwen folded her arms and sat down. "But you have to carry me."

"Wha-" Sonic rested one wrist on his hip. "Gwen I—look, maybe it's best you walk on your own two feet." He stumbled over his words. He didn't want to say he couldn't do it – even though he couldn't.

"We've walked half a mile, tops. it's not even far."

"You've got to be er, independent."

"Ahh," She sighed, "I guess it can't be helped. The fastest creature can't also be the strongest, I suppose."

Sonic narrowed his eyes, silently weighing up his options. Was that a challenge? Sonic couldn't say no to a challenge. He frowned and stepped over. "Alright, fine. Get up."

Gwen laughed and pushed herself up. Sonic slipped one arm under her shoulders, the other under her legs and heaved her up. He held his breath with the initial haul. He grit his teeth with her in his arms.

"Gnnh..!" He growled, taking step back to the village.

"Tally ho!" Gwen pointed back to the village, then noted the horrifying slow pace. "... Sometime today would be good."

"Shut up." Sonic hissed as Gwen chuckled. He picked up the pace ever so slightly but considered dropping her right there. But, no. He had to make it back. They hadn't come too far. It shouldn't be too bad, right?

Sonic dropped Gwen once they were back on the beach, nearby his shack. He groaned and hunched over, panting.

"My back won't be the same again..." He complained while he shook his head. He regretted taking the challenge, but he managed.

Gwen picked herself up off the ground, dusting sand off of herself. "My, my. I am impressed. Tired?" She smirked.

Sonic straightened and flashed her a grin, though he was still panting. "I don't get tired."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "C'mon, you deserve a chilli dog."

Sonic perked up at the mention of a chilli dog.

"Of course, you're still paying for it." She turned, heading off to the village. "If it makes you feel any better, I'd pay if I did have money."

"That doesn't make my wallet feel any better." Sonic caught up with her, then looked ahead. "See ya there!" He gave a brief wave, then bolted off.

Gwen chased after him, "Hey! Wait up!"

Sonic waltzed through the village towards Tails' workshop as he scarfed down a chilli dog, savouring the wonderful flavour. He reached beside himself, grabbing a bag that contained another chilli dog from Gwen.

"When did I become the pack mule..?"

"When you couldn't pay for the grub."

Gwen frowned slightly though she accepted her fate. She and Sonic entered Tails' workshop. Scattered all around the workspace were tools and trinkets, but the place was oddly clean. Gwen had never seen a workshop so clean and organised. _Who the hell has an organised workshop? These things are always tips. What kind of organisation god is Tails to keep this place orderly?_ Over on the other side of the workshop, Tails was hard at work on a large, boxy machine. The shape was easily recognisable to Gwen as that of the device Robotnik's fat ass had smashed despite it being painted orange and had a logo consisting of two tails. A panel had been detached from the side and Tails had poked his head inside.

"Hey Tails! How's it going?" Sonic asked, walking over.

"Oh, alright." Tails replied, his voice dampened by the machine's exterior. "Just that I seem to be missing something absolutely crucial to get this to work and I don't know what it is!" He shuffled out of the machine, his ears folded down. "It's practically ready! I think. I haven't tested it yet because I can't open a portal. There just doesn't seem to be enough power."

"Looks like Eggman skimmed over some details." Sonic rubbed his chin. "I think this means he's due a visit from the taxman." He paused. "And friends."

Gwen shook her head. "The taxman doesn't have friends Sonic."

"Aw, c'mon!" He glanced back. "Just admire the line being cool. Only the first bit mattered anyway!"

"'Just admire the line'." Gwen mocked in a whiney voice.

"Is there an echo in here?" Sonic's ear twitch. "And I do not sound like that." He said with a bitter chuckle.

Gwen set her hands on her hips and nodded sympathetically. "Of course. Of course. Anyway, you best gather everyone if we're going to raid Robotnik."

"Aw, c'mon, Gwen. I call the shots." He turned away, grumbling to himself as he raised the communicator to gather the others. "Amy junior over here..."

Later, the gang was stood outside of Eggman's base with a pile of scrap surrounding them, and two laser guns smashed in to the wall.

"So Eggman lied to us?" Knuckles asked, scratching his head. "Why would he do that?"

"Oh, gee, I wonder why." Amy commented, resting her piko-piko hammer over her shoulder.

"Let's just go in and get this over with." Sonic suggested. "The quicker we get the information he's hiding, the quicker we can send Gwen home."

Gwen remained quiet and just smiled at the statement. Her chest clenched at the idea.

Sonic walked over to the side of the blast door, pressing in the doorbell button. The group waited. Sonic yawned, then scratched his ear. Gwen kicked at the dirt. They waited in silence. After five minutes, Eggman finally answered the door – dressed in a pink onesie with various condiment stains splattered over it.

"Uh..." Gwen pointed at him. "Given all that time it took to answer, you could've at least gotten dressed."

"Oh, shut up. Like you have any idea what it's like being an evil genius." Eggman glared at Gwen. "I don't have time to play dress-up for you goobers." He turned it to Sonic. "What do you want?" He as his tone dropped dead flat.

Tails drifted over, landing between Eggman and Sonic. "I've almost finished the dimensional transporter, but something is missing in the plans we made. Only you know what goes into the machine, Eggman."

"Oh-ho-ho. So, you've come to ask for my help?" Eggman grinned. "How delightful."

"Yeah, yeah, Egghead. Just tell us what we need." Sonic folded his arms.

"There is nothing else." Eggman sneered. "The fox must've made a mistake."

"No! I've checked over the machine forty-two times. Everything is right – exactly right." Tails responded in his own defence.

Everyone looked at Eggman.

"And who do you think we'd rather believe?" Sticks walked over, staring up at Eggman. "Spit it out what you're hiding before I booby trap your whole place!" She suddenly backed off and lowered to the ground. "We need to get rid of her before more inter-dimension cyborgs invade!"

Gwen gave Sticks a confused glance, but was otherwise now used to the insanity she brought along.

"You think I'm scared of you?" Eggman laughed. "What a joke." The whole gang took fighting stances. Eggman looked over the group, then held up his hands in surrender. "Now, now! No need to be hasty! Ah- come on in!" He offered, standing aside and gesturing down the hall. "Make yourselves comfortable!"

The gang waltzed in, each shooting Eggman their own suspicious glare. Once inside, Sonic helped himself to food from the kitchen and sat himself on the couch. Gwen inspected the small gizmos scattered around with a child-like curiosity, accidentally knocking one onto the floor and shattering it. Knuckles attempted to turn on the TV but when he couldn't manage, he smashed the screen. Sticks sniffed around until she looked up at a security camera. She growled and leapt up at it, ripping it out of the wall – muttering about the government spying on everyone. Amy sighed, looking at the others make a mess.

Eggman walked in and grumbled. "No Orbot and Cubot when you need them..."

"The sooner you tell me what's wrong with the machine, the sooner we can be out of here." Tails pointed out diplomatically as he walked over.

Eggman held up a hand for the fox to say no more. "I know. I have the last part here. Come with me." He turned and headed off to his workshop. Tails followed.

Gwen watched them go. She looked over at Sonic. "You think they'll be alright? Well, specifically, will Tails be alright?"

Sonic sipped from his glass of juice. "He'll be fine. My bud can handle himself." Sonic's gaze wandered to the echidna eating from the plate of cookies Sonic had retrieved. Sonic set his juice down and took the plate, narrowing his eyes at Knuckles.

"Give me some of those!" Knuckles whined, trying to climb over Sonic to grab the plate.  
"No, go get your own." Sonic held the plate at his arm's length, looking terribly unamused as Knuckles attempted to retrieve the goods.

Soon, Tails returned. He had a twinkle in his eye and in his hand he held a crystal clear gem. Everyone glanced over. Sonic sat up, dropping his plate of cookies.

"Is that-" He started, but stopped. He hadn't seen one in forever!

Tails held up the gem. "A chaos emerald! Eggman was using it to power the machine. The machine doesn't create portals from nowhere! It draws on chaos energy!" He announced as he lowered the gem.

Gwen looked at everyone. They were all staring at the chaos emerald. She felt like she should stare too, but didn't.

"Wh-what's a 'chaos emerald'? I don't even think that is an emerald. Emeralds are green..." She tilted her head.

Tails shook his head. "They're only emeralds in name. These gems are really powerful stuff, Gwen! They're like chaos energy battery packs!"

"Uh. Right! I... I totally understand. Yeah." She set her hands on her hips.

Tails grinned. "Don't worry. All you need to know is that this baby is going to get you home! You wanna carry it back?"

Gwen flicked her ear. "Right!" She bounded over and grabbed it. It began to glow dimly. She watched it, curiously.

Tails also watched the gem with some curiosity as he scratched his chin. "I wonder if you can harness chaos energy." He mused to himself.

"Uh... what?"

Tails pointed at the emerald. "Some select few beings are able to use the energy store within chaos emeralds for all different kinds of purposes." Tails gestured over to Sonic. "Sonic is one of them."

Gwen looked back, wide-eyed. She already thought Sonic was rather outstanding with his superspeed, but he could take and use some powerful energy too?

Sonic smirked back. "If I gather all seven chaos emerald, that is. Then, I can turn into super sonic."

"'Super sonic'? Really?" She leant over. "You couldn't make a more original name for a transformation than super sonic?" She groaned. "N-nevermind, please stop... This is all a bit too much information in one go. Interesting, but too much. It's weird enough that everyone here is some sort of animal and that some of those animals have super powers."

Tails chuckled. "I guess you don't have chaos emeralds in your world then?"

Gwen shook her head. "Nope. Well, that or the government hides them in some secret base. Who knows?" Gwen glanced back at Sticks.

Sticks pointed at her, "I knew your government was evil too!"

Amy stepped over to Gwen and gave her a stern look. "I've warned you before! Don't encourage her."

Gwen held up her hands in defence. "I'm going soon! Some small teasing won't hurt!"

Amy fumed.

Sonic stood and stretched. "Well, I'd like to say it was nice seeing you, Eggman." He folded his hands behind his head. "But then I'd need to wash my mouth out. C'mon guys." He said, heading out. "Let's go wrap this thing up."

Everyone followed Sonic. Gwen looked at Eggman, then trailed after the group, feeling rather bitter-sweet.

**A/N Sorry this took a while. I've actually decided I'm going to rewrite the ending. As I've mentioned before, the ending was something that I didn't like before. I still didn't like when I reread the story. It'll still end up at a very similar spot to what it was always going to be but with alterations to how it gets to that point.**


End file.
